The Glass Garden
by Nightress5
Summary: Midoriya was never prepared to play a game of chess; a deadly game where he was the pawn and at every rook was a shadow, a secret that was meant to be buried and undisturbed. All of that changes when he not only becomes Prince Todoroki's personal servant, but a spy for his own country. The more he plays the game, the deadlier it gets. TodoDeku.
1. A Drop of Royal Blood (1-1)

Lit candles that lined the room cast shadows across Midoriya's face. A light breeze filtered in through the window, allowing him and the figure lying propped up on the bed to hear the chatter of the guards in the palace courtyard as they prepared to change rotations with another group.

The light danced off the face of the man lying in bed. If one were to come into the room their eyes would be attracted to any number of things that were shoved against the walls or the plush rugs that littered the floor. Gold and red lacquered objects seemed to occupy the space; an oil lamp burned dimly on the small table that was near the bed. They would, however, never notice the gaunt man that was lying on it. The bed was low to the ground, a style that had originated in Shuei since the founding of the country; it had been placed on a low platform and reached Midoriya's knees, red lacquer insets depicting deer were carved into the wooden frames that lined the bed. A thick mattress had been placed upon it and thick feather pillows seemed to take over much of the bed. A silky curtain that was a soft shade of red lined the bed as well; it was slightly drawn open so that Midoriya could see the hands of the man he was speaking to and very little else.

Silence passed between them as the lights in the room flickered from the gentle breeze that floated through the open window. The breeze rustled the curtains and for a brief second Midoriya held his breath as the man lifted his hand and brushed the curtain that was hiding his features aside with the back of his hand, revealing the emaciated face of a man with angular features that seemed to highlight his own frailty, currently struggling to keep himself upright in the bed. His limbs and neck were long; his body drowning in clothes that were made several sizes too large for him and hung off of his thin frame. His bright blue eyes were like a beacon in the dim room as the lights flickered and glinted off his blond, spiky and disheveled hair, two bangs framing each side of his face.

Midoriya noted the dried speckle of blood that stained the corner of All Might's mouth.

All Might opened his mouth, intent on repeating the words that Midoriya convinced himself were simply a trick of his own mind. He lifted his hand as his fingers curled inwards to his palm to form a fist, covering his mouth and coughing into it. Even from where Midoriya was standing, he could hear the air forcing itself out of All Might's lungs as he coughed, speckles of blood flying into the air and coating his fist.

Midoriya took a step forward, but All Might immediately raised a single hand ordering Midoriya to stay where he was positioned. He obeyed and slid his foot backward so that he was standing still.

The coughing fit subsided and All Might drew his fist away as he reached for the handkerchief that was hidden in the folds of his dark yukata. He wiped the handkerchief against his mouth and placed it back into the folds of his clothes as he turned his head to stare at Midoriya.

"Do you know what I am asking of you, Midoriya?" All Might's voice was grave and there was a distinct sound of rattling inside of his chest that caused his words to come out with a wheeze.

Midoriya shook his head fervently. Shock warped his face, "I understand, but All Might I-I can't—"

It was All Might's turn to shake his head, his vibrant blue eyes locked on Midoriya's green own.

"Midoriya, I need you to be my spy."

* * *

Midoriya had only been a young child when he accompanied his mother to the palace. He had been 3; old enough to walk by himself but still wary of the people around him. He buried his face and little fists into the vibrant and luxurious fabrics of his mother's wine red kimono that had seasonal flowers spread across the back and sides. His mother looked absolutely stiff in the multiple layers of fabric that she wore and was unaccustomed to wearing. It was only a few months since she had become a member of the court, working as a royal scholar for the palace. Her fingers tugged at the edges of the long cloak-like kimono's sleeves that dragged against the ground with each movement that she took.

Midoriya glanced up nervously at the palace guards who passed them by as they guarded the castle from any attackers or intruders who wished to interrupt tonight's function. Inko gingerly placed her hand against her son's back as she pressed him a little tighter against the fabric of her kouchiki. She moved slowly for fear of tripping over own two feet. They passed underneath the gates that lead to the palace grounds, revealing a cluster of nobles and influential people dressed in their greatest and most expensive attire that easily boasted their wealth and statuses. The clothing of the nobles was both native to Shuei and foreign to the respective kingdoms and countries the guests came from.

Midoriya couldn't place where any of their foreign guests came from, save for that their features and the strange sounds that reached his ears weren't related to Shuei at all.

A servant quickly ran up to Midoriya and his mother. The woman looked slightly older than his own mother and there was a flicker of curiosity in her eyes that vanished as quickly as it had came as the woman bowed in front of them both.

"If you please follow me, I'll escort you both to the garden where our other guests are mingling before the main hall opens up."

Inko nodded as she allowed herself to be lead to the gardens by this servant. The gardens were extravagant, to say the least, they made the Midoriya home look like it was a hut instead of a decently sized home that worked for the two people living in it. The gardens stretched for what seemed like the length of a single street. Exotic flowers and plants decorated the garden, a little bridge carried guests over a pool of clear water that exposed the koi fish living in it. Izuku turned to see a bamboo stick seesaw back and forth as water slid in it and tipped over onto dainty white flowers beneath it that turned as clear as paper thin sliced fish. Izuku pulled away from his mother as he spotted other children huddling up near the water to toss pellets of food to the koi.

He looked up at his mother who nodded her head and lead him over to the other children. Her hand still pressed against his back as he craned his neck and stood on his toes to see the fish. Just a little bit away from them were a pair of young women, dressed head to toe in cream-colored dresses that seemed to be the new trending style in the kingdom that bordered Ingeniumu's forests. They whispered to each other, their eyes flickering back and forth from Inko's face to her son before turning to each other and tittering behind their hands.

Inko pressed her hand a little bit more firmly into her son's back and gently lead him away from the pond just as another servant came out into the garden to announce that the main hall was now open and they should all proceed there.

The whispers seemed to follow them both as they reached the main palace. As Midoriya and his mother entered all talk seemed to halt in the waiting room just outside the main hall. Everyone glanced at them and immediately turned away as if nothing had happened.

"I heard that that boy—" A woman to the far right of the room whispered before she was smacked on the arm by her companion.

"Don't, they're probably listening." Her companion whispered back harshly.

A man and his wife on the opposite side of the room whispered to one another as well, their voices just loud enough that the others around them could hear and this included Inko as well.

"What is _she_ doing here? I thought this party was for those of noble lineage and not the _help_." She hissed out the single word as if she had just consumed something horrendous.

"Dear." The man quickly chastised his wife.

Inko's fingers curled into the fabric of her kimono as another servant appeared and announced to all the guests that they would be lead to their respective seats.

Inko and Izuku were lead inside the main hall. Tables made from smooth oak that had been waxed to a glossy sheen lined the hall with chairs made from the same material as well, replacing the low tables and mats that were usually used for guests to eat from in consideration with the many foreign dignitaries that graced the palace halls and were unused to many of Shuei's cultural norms.

Inko and Izuku were lead to a pair of chairs that were placed behind a table that allowed for the vantage point of the main table at which the leaders of their country and other kingdom's including their respective families sat.

Inko helped her son into his seat as she nervously glanced at the table where the royals had yet to be seated. She took her own seat as a couple—an older man and his wife—sat in the two empty seats beside her.

The woman was dressed in a high-backed white gown that had lace trimmings around the color and the hem, thousands of pearls were sewn into the fabric and her white colored hair was piled atop her head in a manner that seemed if she even moved slightly in a single direction that the momentum her hair seemed to possess would cause her to tumble over.

A servant loudly announced that the rulers of the kingdom's of the land were entering the main hall. Inko tore her gaze away from the main table as the rulers began to walk in. Izuku's eyes began to sparkle as All Might walked into the room and towards the table, his taller and bulkier stature easily set him apart from the others.

The servants soon set about serving the first course. Izuku knew some of the servants who flitted about the room, they played with him and kept him company whenever his mother had to come to the castle and was too preoccupied to keep him in her sight. They placed down small bowls of soup for the first course. A pumpkin based broth that had chunks of meat and potatoes floating on the surface, tiny bubbles of oil floated along the surface as the various spices that were used in the dish seemed to cause it to shimmer.

One thing Shuei was known for was the spices the country produced along with other goods as well.

Izuku frowned at the soup as he picked up his spoon and lightly slapped at the surface of it with the back of the metal cutlery.

His mother lightly smiled and she leaned close towards him. "Izuku, you know if you eat all of your food, you'll grow up to be as big and strong as All Might."

At the mention of his hero's name, he reluctantly nodded and dipped his spoon into the soup before leaning forwards and placing the spoon into his mouth.

At the mention of All Might's name, the old woman besides his mother seemed to perk up. The old woman leaned back in her seat and glanced at Midoriya. "Do you look up to All Might?" She asked.

Midoriya nodded and hummed in response.

The old woman let out a small chuckle as she smiled at his mother. "Well, I do suppose it's good for little boys to have a role model in their lives...especially if they don't have a father around."

Inko stiffened in her chair; her own smile slightly faltering.

Midoriya glanced up at his mother and frowned, the spoon still stuck in his mouth. He removed it before asking his mother, "Do I have a dad?"

Inko coldly glared at the older woman, her words were like chips of ice as she spoke. "My son has a father. He _died_ serving our country."

The old woman huffed indignantly, a feigned apologetic look flashed across her face. "You'll have to forgive me, but some other ladies and I were simply talking earlier and it just seems a little strange to us that a young woman like yourself is a _widow_ at such a young age, even stranger still that you didn't take your husband's last name?" The woman raised a single silver brow. "I have a niece who is married to the head of the palace guards, so I'm quite familiar with many of the knights in our countries employ. What did you say your husband's name was?"

"I didn't." Inko curtly responded. "His name was Hisashi."

The old woman hummed to herself, her eyes narrowing slightly. "How strange. I've never heard of that name before."

A grim smile stretched across Inko's face. "He served near the border."

The old woman nodded as a younger woman next to Midoriya leaned towards him. The golden ring on her right ring finger had an emerald in the middle that sparkled brightly. "How old are you?"

Midoriya held up three fingers on his left hand as he stuck his spoon back into the soup.

The woman cooed, "3 years old. You must be excited about knowing your Quirk by now."

Midoriya frowned, he tipped the spoon so that it was submerged underneath the soup. Midoriya pouted, his face scrunched up in a sullen manner. "I don't have one," he mumbled underneath his breath.

"What?" The young woman leaned a little closer to him, her brows pressed together.

"I said I don't have one." Midoriya grumbled a little louder this time. He shifted his spoon in the bowl, ripples traveled across the liquid.

The young woman leaned away from him, a placating smile stretching across her face that was as hollow as the words that she told his mother. "I'm sure he's just a late bloomer." She smiled and exchanged a glance with the old woman. She excused herself from the table, a second later the old woman did the same and stood up from her seat and quickly made the few steps away from the table to where the young woman stood.

Inko could hear them both whispering behind her.

"Fatherless and Quirkless? She might have been better just abandoning him at the steps of an orphanage altogether."

Inko could feel the dryness of her mouth as a servant announced that a troupe of exotic dancers from lands beyond the sea would be the entertainment for the evening. A gift that had been provided by the Kingdom of Enten.

The doors to the hall flew open as what appeared to be a dozen female dancers dressed in vividly colored fabrics sultry danced their way into the room. The clothes they wore came in hues of fiery red, burning oranges and dazzling golds. They carried sheer pieces of fabric in their hands that were wrapped around their shoulders, tiny bells jingled on their waists as they moved their hips and danced around the tables and towards the main one where the royals and their family sat. A troupe of musicians, undoubtedly from the dancers' country followed in. They took their place near the back of the hall, on a large mat that had been provided for them. They took up wind and string instruments with one of them having a pair of drums; the instruments looked strange and foreign, unlike anything any of the guests had seen within their own kingdoms and neighboring countries.

The music began to play, a strange cacophony of sounds that blended together in a single, beautiful harmony as the dancers twirled around, wrapping the sheer fabric they carried around themselves. Their faces were obscured by the same sheer fabric that they carried, the only thing one could see were their eyes. The bells on their waist clanged together with the music as they moved and danced around the tables.

The song soon came to an end and the dancers stilled their hips as a gasp rose up from the tables when servants brought out pairs of curved swords and presented them to the dancers. The metal shined underneath the light as each dancer took up the twin swords and resumed their dancing, albeit a little faster this time as the musicians began to play a tune that caused the guests teeth to clatter inside of their skulls. The dancers turned to one another and crossed their swords and twirled, each time their sword clanging against another as they danced in a complicated formation.

Inko gasped as a few of the dancers jumped in the air, twisting their bodies as the swords seemed to bend and shimmer.

The dancers pressed together as one of them— who Izuku suspected to be the lead dancer—pointed her right sword outwards towards the main table. The other dancers followed suit as the song began to pick up to a dizzying speed. The dancers twirled and spun as they pressed closer to the main table until they were standing directly in front of it. From the main hall doors more dancers appeared with sheer fabric, they rushed towards the dancers with the swords and lifted the fabric in the air, this fabric was a little larger, almost the size of a sheet. The dancers with the fabric converged on the ones with the swords and wrapped around them in a circular formation. They spun around and danced before backing up and dancing around the girls with swords, the sheer fabric obscuring the guests view of the dancers with the swords when suddenly a scream rose out from the hall.

The dancers broke apart as one of them—the suspected lead—pushed through the formation and quickly raced for the main hall doors as the guards who looked every bit as confused as the guests attempted to intercept her. The dancers were freaking out as they rushed away from the main table in all directions. Someone was shouting for a doctor which caused the guests to become even more confused as many of the guards rushed to the table as well. The guests began to murmur to one another as Inko's brows pushed together as she attempted to understand what was going on. Someone was crying as the royal guards for each royal house rushed towards the main table and surround their leaders and their family—attempting to get them away and out of the main hall.

And that was when everyone could see it.

All Might with his right hand pressed against the table, his guards quickly rushing to his side to obscure the fact that his left hand was pressed against his side. A bright red spot was rapidly spreading outwards from beneath the tips of his fingers, staining the fabric a darker color. The edges of the fabric seemed to have a green tinge to them that was in direct contrast with the darker hues of the fabric. His face seemed pale and beads of sweat dotted his skin as the medic came rushing into the room.

Everyone knew instantly what was going on.

The sound of chairs scraping outwards and clattering to the floor reverberated in the hall as guests began to scream and rush towards the doors. Guards and servants alike looked alarmed as they attempted to calm the fleeing guests.

Midoriya glanced up at his mother, fear worming its way into his heart. He glanced up at his mother whose eyes were intently focused elsewhere, her fingers were dug into the fabric of her clothes, her knuckles were white to the point he could see the bone underneath them. He followed her gaze towards the main table, her eyes were focused on All Might's form as he sat slumped in his chair.

He glanced up at her face and would never even a million years forget the emotion that burned in her eyes.

His mother was terrified.

For the first time in his life he had seen his mother truly terrified.

* * *

 **A/N: So I'm finally back on this site after a number of years and I'm uploading a fic here that I've already posted on A03. I hope you guys enjoy it and please leave me reviews or faves telling me how you feel!**

 **Also please tell me if the formatting is weird in any place since this site messed up my formatting to the point I had to redo it twice. This fic will also update every Monday and Friday EST.**


	2. A Drop of Royal Blood (1-2)

Now Midoriya stood just a few inches away from All Might's bed. The thin, frail form of the man was in direct contrast with the buff, strong leader that the country knew and loved.

All Might doubled over himself as another coughing fit wracked through his body, he raised his fist to his mouth and coughed long and hard before the cough subsided to a rattling wheeze in the depths of his chest. He pulled his fist away from his mouth, flecks of blood covered his fingers.

Midoriya stared at All Might, the former image of the man he had looked up to since childhood burned in the forefront of his mind. All Might no longer possessed that bulky frame of his, but instead had been reduced to a mere skeleton. His cheeks were sunken in, his skin pale, and his limbs seemed too long for his body. All Might groaned aloud and winced as he gingerly pressed a hand against his side—against the spot where Midoriya knew that he had endured that fatal wound so many years ago.

"Do you want me to—" Midoriya began, but pressed his lips shut as All Might cut him off with a single shake of his head.

After the party, it had been found that the lead dancer of the troupe had carried a small knife within the folds of her clothes, it had been dipped in a poison that was untraceable and unidentifiable; none of Shuei's best scholars or doctors had been able to find a cure for All Might. The poison ate at him from the inside and out reducing him to the shell that Midoriya stood staring at. While they hadn't been able to find a cure, Midoriya's mother had been able to whip up a sort of medicine that drastically slowed the effects of it. She had told him that old age would kill him first before the poison ever did, but by the pale look on her face when she had told him that. The words she truly wanted to say had gone unsaid.

The poison would never kill him, but his life wouldn't be an easy one to live.

The lead dancer had been arrested afterwards and interrogated for any information that she could possibly have known. Who had sent her, who had ordered her to assassinate All Might. Rather than talk, she had bit her own tongue. The guards gave her mercy and executed her after.

Naturally without an actual mastermind behind everything, the country of Enten became the biggest suspect and rumors rose up that King Enji, who had always been jealous of All Might, was the one who had ordered the assassination. After all Enten was the one who had brought the troupe as entertainment in the first place.

All Might had soon thereafter sworn his inner court to secrecy about his actual condition. He kept indoors as much as he could with Midoriya acting as his page, the few rare moments however that he needed to be in the public eye, All Might's Quirk allowed him to regain his former appearance as it amplified his strength. Though to Midoriya, it seemed lately that such transformations were finally taking their strain on his body.

Midoriya swallowed, before shaking his head. "The-there are other people who are more suitable to serve as a spy. What about Tanaka, his quirk is invisibility, right? He could—"

"No," All Might whispered before doubling over once more as the rattling in his chest turned into a series of coughs. He motioned at Midoriya, who quickly flitted to the small table near All Might's bed and picked up the cup and pitcher of water that had been placed on it. He poured the water into the cup and quickly thrust it into All Might's hands. All Might lifted the cup to his lips and gulped the water down like a man who had been dying of thirst for days and had been finally granted the ability to drink. He pulled the now-drained cup away from his lips and placed it back into Midoriya's hands who replaced the cup back onto the table. "It has to be you. It can _only_ be you."

"But why?" Midoriya spluttered out. "Why spy on them? Wouldn't that just damage our relationship?"

"That is a perfectly understandable question to ask." All Might cleared his throat. "I've had reports from the captain of guards that Enten forces were seen mobilizing near the border, a large number of men and weaponry. It's true that Enten and Shuei haven't had the best of relationships since my—" All Might trailed off, his eyes quickly flickering to his side, "—but if the reports are true and Eiji is truly stationing men at his borders then this can't mean anything good. In a week, I'm planning on sending a caravan of servants and Shuei's finest goods as a brokerage of peace to Enten's capital for the crown prince's birthday and coming of age celebration. I'm planning on sending one of my best servants to act as a royal servant for his royal highness."

Midoriya pressed his lips tightly shut as he understood the words All Might was trying to truly convey to him. He wanted Midoriya to serve as the crown prince's personal servant. It was the highest position he could take, to serve as a confidant for the crown prince would give him access and ease to snoop around the castle as much as he needed to without drawing suspicion to himself.

His thoughts turned to his mother as he swallowed thickly. If he was caught in Enten as a spy then Shuei would be forced to wash their hands clean of him and accuse him of acting on his own or worse accuse him of acting as a traitor against their own country and a spy for someone else's. Either option would lead with Midoriya having his head resting on the chopping block as the clean edge of a blade sliced through his neck.

All Might spoke again, clearly picking up on the young man's unease about the entire situation. "You don't have to accept. I know it's a lot to ask of you and you have your mother to worry about."

Midoriya breathed deeply as he bowed his head and pressed his eyes shut, lifting his right hand to cup his chin. If the reports were true about Enten moving forces to the border then this posed a devastating problem for Shuei. Enten was renowned for their military strength and weaponry in comparison to Shuei that was known for promoting diplomatic options first instead of warfare. It immediately put them at a disadvantage compared to the other kingdoms; they weren't prepped for a war nor would they be anytime soon if Enten was prepared to invade their borders soon, that put every citizen of their nation from the capital to the smallest of villages at risk.

Midoriya swallowed as his lips parted. "I'll do it."

All Might's bright blue eyes narrowed and he motioned for Midoriya to come closer to the bed. He complied and watched as All Might reached up and plucked a single, long strand of blond hair from his head. He held it up between them both, the single strand of hair illuminated by the flickering lights from the candles to the point that it resembled a thread of spun gold.

"Midoriya, my boy, tell me what it is that you know of my Quirk?"

Midoriya bowed his head, his brows pinched together in concentration as he cupped his chin and pressed his finger against his bottom lip. "Your Quirk can enhance your speed and strength and increase your agility." Midoriya began to mutter as he grew lost in his own thoughts, "Of course, there's not a lot of information surrounding your Quirk and even after being your page for several years I still don't understand the full extent of your Quirk. Though I can only—"

All Might laughed, the sound quickly drawing Midoriya out of his own thoughts. The laughter soon, however, had All Might in the throes of another coughing fit that seemed a little bit longer than the other ones previously. All Might reached out and patted Midoriya's head, his green curls flattening underneath All Might's hand. "You're as brilliant as your mother." The compliment brought a blush to Midoriya's cheeks.

All Might twirled the single strand of hair that he held between his fingers. His brows were scrunched together in intense concentration. He reached out with his free hand and grabbed Midoriya's own in his, he turned the boy's palm upwards and laid the single strand of hair down into the middle of his palm.

Midoriya stared down at the hair in confusion before his gaze flickered back to All Might's face.

"Do you know how the leader's of our country came to govern?"

Midoriya nodded his head. "With no other heirs, on her deathbed, the last queen appointed you as the rightful claimant to the throne."

All Might's eyes burned with an intensity that made Midoriya squirm in his skin. "Is that so? But why?"

Midoriya's gaze shifted to the ceiling as he rooted around his brain for an answer that he had studied during the lessons he had been given from the castle historian. "You were a trusted advisor to the queen...it was a natural choice for you—"

"What if I told you the story you knew to be true was anything but?" All Might interrupted him but didn't let him answer before continuing to trudge on. "It's true I was an advisor to the queen, but I had been placed in that position the very moment it was decided that I would become king."

"Th-the very moment you were to become king?" Confusion branded itself into Midoriya's skin; his eyes narrowed.

All Might nodded, his gaze flickering down to Midoriya's palm. "My Quirk: One for All, has an uncanny ability to it. It can be passed from one person to the next so long as the holder of that power has the desire to pass it on. When I was about your age and roughly in a position befitting your current circumstance I was given a choice, the same choice I am giving you now."

All Might's gazed into Midoriya's eyes, his blue eyes burning brightly as they searched for a flicker of emotion in Midroiya's own green. Midoriya was confused, his lips were slightly turned downwards into a frown as he prepared to open his mouth to say something when the realization of what All Might was now offering to him fell into his lap.

Midoriya's eyes widened and he shook his head, extending his palm outwards to All Might before lowering his eyes. His cheeks burning as he refused to meet All Might's gaze. "I-I can't." Midoriya refused, shaking his head vigorously. "It's too great of an honor. One that I can't except, one that I shouldn't even be given."

All Might reached out and gingerly curled Midoriya's fingers inwards towards his palm. "It is an honor that I wish to give you. Just as it was given to me before when I too thought the impossible was a great distance away from me."

Midoriya's eyes widened, he lifted his head to stare into All Might's eyes. "You were—"He whispered softly before letting his words trail off.

All Might's expression was soft as he nodded. "I was like you once. But now you can have the ability to walk down my path and the path of my predecessors and make it your own."

"Why?" Midoriya whispered.

"An answer that you will have to wait to hear another time. It is late and there will be suspicion if you stay here much longer."

"What will I say when others discover that I suddenly have a Quirk?"

"Say it is nothing more than a late bloom. While they are uncommon they are not unheard of."

Midoriya stared intently down on his closed palm, before uncurling his fingers and tilting his head backwards. He lifted his palm and pressed it against his open lips as he devoured the single strand of hair.

All Might reached out and squeezed Midoriya's shoulder. "Now leave, go home to your mother and return tomorrow as soon as the sun has risen. We have a lot to prepare for and very little time to do it with."

Midoriya nodded before stepping away from the bed and bowing deeply towards All Might. He turned as All Might stared out the open window. The sound of his chambers' door shutting quietly hissed in the room as a gentle breeze rustled the curtains, pushing them aside so that the moon was exposed to All Might's visage.

The moon hung lowly in the sky, slightly bigger and closer to the earth than it had been yesterday. All Might closed his eyes briefly as a gentle wind floated into the room, caressing his face and providing a cool chill that contrasted the feverish temperature of his skin.

He hoped he was making the right decision.


	3. A Drop of Royal Blood (1-3)

A month had passed and Midoriya stood at the edges of the caravan train. There seemed to be an endless number of them, filled to the brim with the finest cloth, spices, and lacquered goods that Shuei could provide. Midoriya had a single pack tossed over his shoulder, containing almost all of his summer clothes, as Enten was considerably warm for several months out of the entire year with temperatures peaking in the summer. He shuddered to think about the brutal winters he would have to endure. A common proverb went along the lines that a single kiss from an Enten breeze during the winter was enough to make a criminal pray for their life to end. In the pack were also a few strips of dried meat, half a wheel of cheese and a loaf of bread that his mother had neatly packed into a pristine white cloth and shoved into his bag for his journey.

Midoriya glanced down at his arm as he held it out. He curled his fingers inward to his palm until he was clenching a fist, he could feel the muscles in his arm clenching up and tightening. He sighed as he let his arm drop to his side. He still felt sore from the training he had to endure under All Might's instructions yesterday. He winced as he could still feel the wack of the wooden sword against his arm, the dark bruise he had gotten from it still felt tender underneath his touch.

" _Midoriya_."

Midoriya turned his head at the soft whisper of his name. There was a darkly cloaked figure standing near the edge of a small alleyway that stuck between two buildings. The figure waved at Midoriya to come closer to them as they slightly lifted their head to expose their face.

Midoriya looked around making sure that no one was watching him. Everyone that was going on the journey to Enten was preoccupied in checking their cargo and saying goodbye to their loved ones before their long journey began. He lightly jogged to where All Might stood, slightly hidden by the dark shadows of the alleyway.

All Might reached out and placed a single hand on Midoriya's shoulder, he squeezed it tightly as he gazed into the young man's eyes. "Be careful out there; there are plenty of enemies that hide in the shadows and some so daring that they hide within the light. Trust very few people and even those that you do hold them at arm's length."

Midoriya nodded, he slightly turned prepared to head back to the caravan when his eyes widened as he was pulled towards All Might. Strong arms wrapped around his shoulders as All Might pulled him into a warm embrace. All Might's right hand rested against the back of Midoriya's head. No words were exchanged between the two, Midoriya's hands shook as he wasn't sure on what to do, on weather to wrap his arms around All Might and reciprocate the hug or let them hang loosely at his sides.

Midoriya slowly raised his arms but was pushed away from the embrace when the sound of his name being called from amongst the caravan reached his ears.

"Good luck." All Might's gaze bore into his own, the grip on his shoulder was tight as if he wished to say more but couldn't bring himself to do it. "And be safe. I'll watch over your mother while you're gone."

Midoriya nodded again as he turned to head towards the caravan but stopped in his tracks, he whirled around and bowed deeply to All Might before running towards the caravan.

Midoriya climbed aboard the front of a wagon, sitting beside a merchant who went by the name of Tokoyami. Midoriya noted the large, black raven that sat perched in its cage between them. Its beady black eyes stared up at Midoriya before it squawked and tucked its head underneath its wing. There was a yell from the front of the caravan and the wheel of the wagon beneath Midoriya's feet began to turn.

The journey from Shuei's capital to Enten's own would take at most a week. So they began their journey early in the morning. They were a good distance from the capital when the sky began to turn a shade of bright orange, the sun hung lowly in the sky indicating to the caravan that there were a few hours of daylight left. The leader of the caravan decided that it was time to set up camp and rest for the night.

Midoriya helped Tokoyami feed the horses that were hitched up to the wagon before checking that the cargo they carried didn't have any damages to it. He soon helped Tokoyami get a fire going and sat around it, sharing some of his provisions with the merchant who shared with him the bits of salted fish and wine that he carried with him. When their bellies were full they laid down on the grass, the crackle of the fire filling the void of silence between them.

"Midoriya," Tokoyami whispered.

Midoriya hummed, turning his head slightly so that he could see the man out of the corner of his eyes.

"I know."

Those two words had Midoriya propping himself up onto his elbows and turning his head to stare at the man. The light from the campfire caused the shadows across his face to dance and flicker. His eyes narrowed as he stared at the dark haired man.

"Relax. I work within All Might's court." Tokoyami dropped his voice to a whisper as he sat up. His gaze hardened as he stared at Midoriya. "He sent me to make sure your journey went smoothly and to make sure you had him." Tokoyami jerked his chin towards the bird he carried, who was resting in his cage after having been fed bits of dried fish. "His name is Dark Shadow. A bird that I raised myself."

"A messenger bird?"

Tokoyami nodded. "One of the fastest that I have. You're to use him to send messages to All Might. I'm sure Enten will let you have the bird; a gift from your home, but they'll check him and any messages that you send out and receive as well. I'm certain that All Might taught you a way to communicate with him?"

Midoriya nodded before he had left his training with All Might included them coming up with a cipher that could be hidden in their messages. Both of them could write a normal message to one another, but they had memorized a key to which each letter of the alphabet correlated with a new letter. "I'll be careful." That answer seemed to satisfy Tokoyami who nodded and laid back down.

Midoriya stared up at the stars. Too restless to will himself to sleep. He was nervous, anyone in his position would rightly be. He was going to the capital of Enten, a country he had never set foot in.

An unfamiliar place with an unfamiliar culture that was different from his own. Surrounded by people who were weren't Shueian or who had no understanding of his culture. Midoriya's stomach twisted inside of him, he rolled onto his side and pressed his head against his pack to watch the flickering lights of the fire. Embers burst from the log as it released an audible popping sound and split into two. He was to be a servant to the crown prince, a man that he had never seen, but heard plenty of stories about.

He heard the prince wore a mask that covered his left eye. A white mask with ornate golden swirls to hide what very few knew, a few of the women traveling with the caravan had remarked that the prince was born disfigured and that King Enji so ashamed had ordered him to wear the mask, but that even with the mask, the prince was considered to be a rare flower amongst Enten. A handsome man that was desired by everyone he met. One of the women said that a young noble girl who was pining after the prince had tried to remove the mask once and had ended up harmed by his quirk, afterwards she had been ordered to be executed by the prince.

The women had shuddered and hadn't brought up the topic again.

Midoriya wondered whether the prince was like the rumors had said. If he had a heart that was as cold as the Ingeniumu's winters and a visage hidden beneath the mask he wore that was fit for a monster. Midoriya could feel his eyelids growing heavy as the waves of sleep slowly rocked over him. He closed his lids and sighed softly and dreamed a dream of monsters beneath masks and a man with a heart of ice.

* * *

Their journey to Enten went smoothly. They arrived with every single wagon and carriage intact.

Midoriya's eyes widened as the capital of Enten came into view. Everything about the city seemed to scream out the wealth the country and its citizens enjoyed. Midoriya stared in awe at the countless citizens who passed by them. The culture of Enten was already proving to be a drastic juxtaposition compared to the culture of Shuei.

Here it seemed, that even the commoners were decked out in a single item of luxury that boasted the country's luxurious wealth. Weather it was the rich material of the clothing they wore, the high quality, polished leather that made up their shoes, the jewels and rings they wore or even the accessories that the women adorned in their hair that were adorned with mother of pearl's and opulent lacquer that was sold by the merchants of his country.

Tokoyami hummed at his side as he guided the wagon forwards through the large, cobbled streets that lead throughout the city. "This city glitters and shines from the outside, but I fear it hides its true appearance beneath all the glamor and gold." Tokoyami grumbled beneath his breath.

Midoriya glanced around as he bit his lower lip. He feared Tokoyami spoke truly; while the splendor of Enten was overwhelming, it felt like someone had painted over a broken pot to hide all the cracks and chips beneath it.

The caravan soon reached the outer gates of the castle. An impressively massive building whose towers reached towards the sky above them. Midoriya craned his neck as he watched the merchants and caravan drivers hop down into the cobbled streets as knights bearing the brooch of a burning sun moved up and down the caravan as they lifted up canvases and began to open up boxes and barrels to check their contents.

Midoriya's eyes immediately honed in on a female knight, his eyes widening in surprise along with the other members of the caravan who began to mutter amongst themselves at the appearance of a woman dressed in knight's armor. She was pretty, with a face that was round and a smile that was equally as gentle, her long, black hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail she had a bang that covered the right side of her face. As she marched towards the side of the caravan, she rested her hand on the pommel of the sword that was strapped to her waist. Her armor gleamed in the morning light, polished to the point that one could probably use it for a mirror. A long red cape flowed behind her back, pinned together with a golden brooch of a sun over mountains.

Midoriya knew the sigil. It was the personal heraldry of the crown prince himself. Each of the princes and the princess of the kingdom had their own separate heraldry to use within their individual houses./p  
"Everyone!" The female knight shouted, "Please have your carriages and wagons checked by the knights and your items cataloged. When that is done please come with me to the throne room where you will greet the crown prince and afterwards may rest for a few hours before continuing your journey back home." Her eyes raked over the crowd of Shueians. "Which one of you is—" She paused as a knight at her side leaned towards her and whispered into her ear, she nodded. "—Midoriya?"

Midoriya took a step forward, his heart was fluttering in his throat to think that he would be meeting the crown prince so soon. The female knight's eyes raked his body up and down, she crossed her arms in front of her chest and cracked a smile. "I think you'll do. You'll be able to rest for a little while with your fellow countrymen, but after your training on how to serve our crown prince will begin shortly after."

Midoriya quickly bowed his head as he turned and helped Tokoyami undo the canvas covering the wagon so that the knights could check it. Once every single wagon and carriage was checked, the knights lead the Shueians through a side entrance of the castle—the service entrance—that lead them into a stunning hallway. The walls were painted with a soft, yellowish paint that seemed to give off the appearance that they were painted with melted gold. Thick, red drapes hung from the windows with paintings mounted up along the walls that depicted a scene in Enten's long and rich history.

Midoriya eyed a painting that depicted King Enji in the throes of youth. His steel covered boot was pressed down onto the back of a large Eikthyrnir stag. Its fur was as white as snow and its antlers branched outwards like the cracks that appeared along a frozen lake. The stag was easily bigger than several men put together. In the painting, a volley of arrows littered the massive beasts side. Midoriya and his fellow countrymen were finally led to the throne room. They gasped as the heavy, oaken doors were pushed apart to reveal a large, arched room that had the same yellow paint coating the walls and rich, red curtains that hung from the large floor-to-ceiling windows. A large red rug was placed on the floor of the throne room, a golden circle embroidered into the middle of it, a golden phoenix flying across the sun in mid flight. The phoenix was the symbol of the Enten kingdom. A rare bird that was born from the ashes of its own fire and was said to appear in times of great conflict for the kingdom.

According to the scholars back in Shuei, the last time anyone had had a sighting of the phoenix was during the first days of The Great War. A war that had taken place centuries ago and had every country, kinsmen and banner house pointing swords at each others necks. The war had greatly devastated each kingdom and had taken several years just to recover from.

The Shueians filtered into the room as the knights followed them in after. There was a marble pedestal in the room, that was raised a few inches off of the ground. A large throne that Midoriya assumed to be the king's was the largest throne among the six upon the pedestal. It was a large oaken throne, with gold trim and a red cushion for the seat. The throne to the left of the king's was smaller, its trim was wrought gold with a white cushion that had red thread laced around the edges. The thrones to the left and right were also made of the same wrought gold and had red and white cushions.

The oaken doors flew open as a young man taller than Midoriya with red hair and a streak of white running through it marched into the room. He was dressed head to toe in finery befitting his rank in life. A white dress shirt with a dark black tunic overneath it, with golden buttons up to the collar; golden thread had been used to embroider a golden sun over his left breast pocket. A pair of dark trousers graced his legs, held in place by an even darker belt that was wrapped around his waist.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Midoriya could see the female knight's face twist with confusion. She parted her lips as if she wished to say something but stopped as the prince lifted his right hand to silence her. Midoriya watched with bated breath as the man turned towards the pedestal and walked up the six marble steps before sitting in the throne that was to the right of the king—the crown prince's throne./p  
Midoriya studied the prince's face. He wasn't like anything he had heard about the crown prince. A warm smile stretched across his handsome face. He had sharp features and high cheekbones with nary a scar or wound to be seen on his face.

He looked friendly and warm and Midoriya couldn't understand the rumors that seemed to swirl around the crown prince.

He took a step forward and bowed deeply, twisting his arm across his chest in the manner that he knew was prevalent in Enten's courts. "It is a pleasure to be serving in your house, your royal highness."

Midoriya could feel a prickle on the back of his arms as the hair along them raised. " _Midoriya_ ," Tokoyami harshly whispered behind him.

A chill ran through his veins as he kept his gaze fixed to the floor. He wondered if he had done something wrong. He didn't think that he did, he spent the last week being lectured on the proper ways to greet Enten nobility by All Might so what was it that he was doing wrong?

The door to the throne room swung open once more. Midoriya turned his head to see a man standing there who appeared to be around his age, his hair was short and evenly split down the middle with his left half the same vibrant red that King Enji possessed and his other half a white that reminded Midoriya of freshly fallen snow. He wore the same finery as the prince currently sitting on the throne which Midoriya assumed meant that he was a prince as well. A white dress shirt underneath a blue vest that had golden buttons and bore the heraldry of a golden sun over golden snow capped mountains over its left breast pocket.

Midoriya's eyes widened as the prince's gray and blue eyes bore into him. A white mask with gold embellishments covered his left eye.

"Bow before his royal highness! Crown Prince Shoto!" The female knight's voice boomed around the throne room as she sunk to her knees in a deep bow. The Shueians followed suit, leaving Midoriya the only one standing.

Midoriya's eyes widened as he let his arm drop to his side and stared at the prince whose eyes narrowed, as a chill ran up Midoriya's spine.

Prince Shoto…. _The Crown Prince Shoto_.

A droplet of sweat traveled down from the side of his temple to his chin as he stared into the prince's eyes. A combination of the grey clouds that appeared in the skies before the inevitable storm and the blue coloration of a frozen sea.

Midoriya had screwed up.

He had really screwed this up.

* * *

 **A/N: I'm so sorry for uploading these chapters past the established update schedules. I'm currently in Japan, so my sense of EST time is wonky, but I will definitely from now on try to set reminders for when these chapters should be published. Also let me know how you guys feel about the chapters being broken apart like this? Since I was concerned about having an entire chapter be too large and clunky for whereas on Ao3 it's fine due to a different layout.**

 **Also R.I.P. Midoriya, he tried so hard, but in the end it doesn't matter...he dead because Todoroki probably kills him after this.**

 **Anyway, if you enjoyed this chapter, leave a like or a comment or even your first born child (I will also accept cookies as your undevoted love for this story as well). Look forward to the new chapter on Friday!**


	4. Aphelion (1-1)

Midoriya's cheeks were burning a bright shade of scarlet as he kept his head bowed and his eyes pointed towards the floor.

His mouth was dry and there was an uncomfortable itch that grew in the back of his throat.

He had barely spent a few hours in this foreign country and he had already made a fool of himself. All the nerves in his body were on edge as the sound of polished shoes tapping against waxed floors reverberated around the room.

Midoriya refused to lift his gaze from the ground as he watched the black, polished tips of the crown prince's shoes appear out of the corner of his vision before turning towards him. A droplet of sweat quivered down the back of his neck before rolling down his skin. He felt as if he had been steeping in a hot bath for hours only to have just emerged. The prince's sharp gaze burned holes into his back as he exuded a calm, repressed aura of hostility.

"Do all Shueians bow to the first person they meet? Or is it difficult for your people to differentiate the nobility from the commoners?" The prince's voice was surprisingly deep; a voice that anyone would trip over their own two feet just to hear.

But right now, Midoriya wished he wasn't hearing this voice for the first time. Underneath those words, Midoriya's cheeks turned a shade darker as he dipped his head a little lower. His right hand clenched into a fist at his side as he grit his teeth together.

"No, your highness." Midoriya spat out through clenched teeth. "Please forgive me for my indiscretions." He could still feel the crown prince's gaze burning holes into his back, before he turned away from him.

"You may stand and return to the sides of your countrymen."

Midoriya let out a sigh of relief as he righted himself and quickly gave a little bow before returning to Tokoyami's side.

Tokoyami glanced at him out of the corner of his eyes.

" _Why didn't you tell me that wasn't the crown prince?"_ Midoriya whispered under his breath.

Tokoyami gave him a look that screamed at Midoriya that he had tried. Midoriya held his breath as he stared at the crown prince's back before his gaze flickered to the prince sitting on the throne.

They were brothers, such an observation was as clear as day. Though now that Midoriya had the opportunity to observe the two princes' face he could clearly see that the one sitting on the throne was slightly older than the crown prince. His face was a little more defined and angular compared to him as well.

"What are you doing?" Todoroki stared up at his brother, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

Todoroki's older brother cracked a cheeky smile at him. He stood up from the throne and patted the armrest. "Keeping it warm for you." There was a twinkle of familial love and amusement burning in his eyes as he stared at Todoroki's stoic face.

There wasn't a single cringle of skin around his eyes or a twitch of his lips. His face was as smooth as unblemished marble that had yet to be touched by an artist's fingers.

Todoroki's brother didn't say a single word more as walked down the pedestal and out of the throne room. Todoroki stood rooted in his spot for a few brief heartbeats before climbing the pedestal and taking his seat in his rightful throne.

Todoroki cocked his head to the side and rested his cheek against his fist as his eyes raked over the party of Shuieans.

Midoriya's eyes locked onto the female knight as she took a step forward and bent down on one knee with her right hand pressed against the marble floors in a deep sign of loyalty towards Todoroki. "Your highness! The cargo from Shuei has all been checked and cataloged; everything that was reported to be there was there and nothing was missing." The female knight bowed her head. "Also—" she trailed off.

"Also what, Yaoyorozu?"

Midoriya sucked in a breath at the casualty that the crown prince seemed to display with the female knight. Even though he referred to her by her last name, there was a strange softness in his voice that Midoriya picked up. His eyes flickered from Yaoyorozu to the crown prince. He wondered what the nature of their relationship was.

He didn't have much time to ponder on these thoughts as Yaoyorozu stood up and turned towards him. She gestured at him with her hand.

"—your personal servant is here as well."

This morsel of information seemed to darken the prince's mood. His eyes narrowed as he stared at Midoriya as if he was attempting to smother him with his feelings alone. "My. Personal. Servant?" Each word fell from Todoroki's mouth as if there were tiny granules of sand that prevented him from speaking properly. His brows pinched together as the corner of his lips slightly twitched in what Midoriya assumed to be an annoyed grimace. "I never asked for one. He can return to Shuei with the rest of the merchants and artisans."

Midoriya sucked in another breath. His nerves ate him from the inside out. The prince couldn't be thinking about sending him back home! He couldn't go back to Shuei now! Not when All Might had tasked him with an important mission that frankly meant life or death for his country. He could barely go home before he found the answers he needed.

His right foot slid forward as his lips parted with a slew of protests already weighing down his tongue.

Yaoyorozu spoke before he could. She stood firm, her hands settled against the curves of her waist as she stared Todoroki down. "You are not sending him back to Shuei!"

An air of suppressed surprise settled over the Shueians; surprise for the fact that a knight—especially a female one—was talking back to the prince that she served. Such an outspoken backlash was unheard of back in Shuei and such an action would at least would warrant severe discipline.

Todoroki's eyes seemed to darken. He forced his head upright as he leaned back into his throne and laced his fingers together. "Oh?"

Yaoyorozu moved her hand from her hip and pointed at Midoriya. "He's a brokerage of peace; one out of many and a personal servant sent to you by Shuei's own king. A personal servant that was _handpicked_ to serve you and a gift for your coming of age. Sending him back to Shuei would not only be seen as a slight but an insult to the entire nation itself."

Todoroki scoffed, turning his head slightly to his right as if he was subtly telling her that he was done with the entire conversation. Yaoyorozu, however, stood firm.

"You need to keep him in your household. Driving a wedge in between the already formed chasm between our two nations would only cause it to grow wider. We need every opportunity that exists to show Shuei that there are no hostile feelings between our nations."

Todoroki stared down at her. "Then send him to my father. I didn't ask for him, nor do I want him."

Yaoyorozu sighed as if she was used to dealing with Todoroki's stubbornness. "Your father already has plenty of servants that attend to his needs. All Might sent _you_ Midoriya specifically. Keep him here, we don't need to chip away at the rift dividing our two countries or create another one. Any negative attention you bring to yourself, especially your house has an equally as negative impact on your father."

At the mention of his father, Todoroki's lips thinned out into a faint line. The room seemed to take on a cold chill as if winter itself had descended onto the interior of the castle months early. "Whatever negative attention my father gets he brings upon himself."

Todoroki's shifted from Yaoyorozu to Midoriya. His heterochromatic eyes weighed down on Midoriya as if he were being judged by the gods themselves. "Yaoyorozu will take care of you and see to it that you don't embarrass me nor my house like you did mere moments ago." He gave Midoriya a pointed stare and dismissed all of them with a single wave of the back of his hand.

Midoriya bit down on his tongue as he swallowed the words he wished to spit in the prince's face.

He had barely spent a few hours in the country and it seemed that every single rumor he had heard about the crown prince seemed to be true. He was cold; his heart a solid block of ice and he was an insufferable ass to boot.

Yaoyorozu turned towards the Shueians and began to lead them out of the throne room. Midoriya glanced at Todoroki who still remained seated in his throne. The prince's gaze was fixated on the floor as if he was stewing in his own thoughts on a tiny little island of his own making.

A wall of thick, solid ice separated him from everything and everyone. A wall that was crafted by his own two hands. A wall that kept others away from him, but also projected a mirage that never allowed those who looked at the ice to see the real object just beyond it.

Midoriya wrenched his eyes away from the prince as the oaken doors clanged shut behind him.

* * *

Yaoyorozu lead them all to the servant's hall. A sort of dining area for all of the servants and knights to eat it.

Midoriya fondly remembered the servants hall back in Shuei; the smell of spices that seemed to cling to the air as cooks, maids, the palace knights and various other servants sat side by side with one another as they ate bowls of rice, steamed fish and rolled omelets that had bits of cheese and bacon wrapped inside of it. Midoriya found himself smiling fondly at the memories as his eyes took in the scratched up long, wooden tables and the cold grey stone walls. A fire burned in the hearth that jutted out of one of the walls.

There were already servants and knights who sat in the hall, partaking in an early afternoon lunch. Midoriya noted that they were all _just_ servants and knights, not a single member of the nobility was to be seen which he supposed already noted the differences between the country he now would be calling his home and the country that burned fondly in his heart. Back in Shuei, it was no surprise to find All Might or any member of the noble houses sharing a meal with the servants. It was a measure of respect, a move that showed the populace that their leaders were as human as they were and that they were respected and looked upon fondly as one large family. There were plenty of times, Midoriya had rubbed shoulders with All Might, even as a young boy he had listened fondly to All Might regal tales of bravery and strength over a rolled omelet or two and a bowl of rice.

Yaoyorozu turned towards Midoriya. "You'll be able to eat a meal with your kinsmen, before they begin their journey back to Shuei. Rest up and enjoy yourself, but I'll be back later to collect you so that you may begin your training on how to properly serve Prince Shoto." She nodded her head towards him and left him and his fellow countrymen behind in the hall, the knights that had followed her leaving with her.

As she left, Midoriya's eyes followed her back as she left the room. A thousand questions burned in his mind, most especially the relationship between Yaoyorozu and the crown prince. They seemed close—too close for a prince and his knight. A shade of crimson rose into his cheeks as his thoughts turned to ones he was uncomfortable with; it wasn't that far of a stretch if Prince Shoto was in a relationship with Yaoyorozu or—Midoriya's cheeks darkened further—they were sleeping together. Enten's culture when it came to sexual relationships was far more looser than Shuei's; everyone was free to do as they sexually pleased to here and it wasn't uncommon for members of the nobility to have bed partners or strange, sexually charged parties that Midoriya had only heard whispers of when he had eavesdropped on a couple of palace dignitaries talking about the lax culture of this kingdom.

A dark and filthy image appeared in his mind. An image of Yaoyorozu spread across satin sheets, her skin shining with sweat underneath the candle lights—

Midoriya gasped as he felt a hand weigh down upon his shoulder. Turning his head slightly he saw Tokoyami standing beside him.

Tokoyami gestured to the wooden, long tables with his chin. "We should get some food in you." Tokoyami's red eyes narrowed slightly. He lowered his voice as his eyes flickered from side to side. "You look like you're wrestling with your mind."

A placating smile stretched across Midoriya's face. "Just a little nervous about serving the prince, I guess."

The crinkle around Tokoyami's eyes relaxed; his face was as smooth as marble, Midoriya's eyes raked over his face if there was any indication that Tokoyami didn't believe him, there wasn't a single twitch of his lips or eyes that indicated otherwise.

Tokoyami's grip on Midoriya's shoulder tightened as he lead Midoriya towards the tables. They took a seat with the other Shueians as servants appeared in the hall and laid out plates of food in front of them. There were plates of toasted bread glistening with globs of slathered butter, honey and dark jam, boiled eggs; thick sausages with skin brown and crispy from the fire they were roasted over. Tokoyami speared his fork into a sausage, the meat squelched as pools of its own juices leaked out onto the plate. Tokoyami lifted the sausage up, the juice from the sausage glided through the air. Tokoyami brought the sausage close to his face and sniffed at it as his mouth turned downwards into a frown.

Midoriya reached out and grabbed an egg from the plate in the center of the table and placed it on his own plate. He lifted his fork into his hand and jabbed at the egg as he warily eyed the contents of the table. His stomach churned with uneasiness as he jerked backwards in surprise as the tip of his fork poked into the egg, the white exterior split apart as the dark orange yolk oozed out onto his plate.

Tokoyami set down his fork, the tip of it still speared into the sausage. "I won't be missing Enten cuisine once I leave."

Midoriya frowned at his own plate, he smeared the molten yolk around his plate. "Well, I won't have that same luxury." Midoriya set down his fork and reached out towards the plate of bread, picking up the one that looked like it had the least amount of butter, honey and jam smeared onto it. He opened his mouth and sank his teeth down into it and instantly regretted doing so. He stiffened as a sharp stab of shock traveled up his spine. The corners of his eyes prickled with the threat of tears, the bread felt like the bark of a sturdy tree. He yanked the bread out of his mouth and scowled at it, the bread was unlike the usual ones he was used to at home. The bread in Shuei was famous for its soft and fluffy texture. Bread that was easy to pull apart, there were plenty of times that he had been able to sink his thumb into the milky white bread and was able to tear it apart with very little pressure.

Midoriya dropped the bread onto his plate and pushed the silver platter away from his body in disgust. Midoriya frowned, he wondered if he would ever get used to Enten's strange cuisine. The taste was unfamiliar and strange to him, he sighed. "The crown prince seems...cold."

Tokoyami shrugged his shoulders as he eyed the table full of food. Tokoyami lifted the fork again and took a sniff of the sausage once more. "The crown prince may seem cold, but he looked friendly towards that female knight." He leaned forward slightly and took a bite out of the sausage, his eyes narrowed slightly as he slowly chewed on the meat.

"How do you know?"

Tokoyami fixed his eyes on the ceiling as he continued to chew on the meat before swallowing it and staring at the sausage. He shrugged his shoulders and took another bite. "The eyes, Midoriya." His gaze settled onto Midoriya's face. "Men may be able to tell lies, but the truth always shines behind their eyes. And behind the crown prince's eyes—" He took another bite out of the sausage, "—lies a tenderness that is only reserved for that knight."


	5. Aphelion (1-2)

Midoriya stood beside Tokoyami, helping him check on the horses and make sure they were tethered to the wagon. Midoriya gently patted the horse's side as it turned its head and muzzled its nose against his skin, its breath rustled the tips of his hair.

"Here."

Midoriya turned at the sound of Tokoyami's voice. The dark haired man was holding Dark Shadow's cage in between his hands. The bird stared at Midoriya and squawked its displeasure at having to leave his master's hand to go to its new temporary owner. Midoriya accepted the cage and let out a surprised yelp as Tokoyami pulled him into a one armed hug. They pulled apart, with Tokoyami's hand still resting on his shoulder. He stared into Midoriya's eyes, his mouth turned downwards into a frown. "Be careful; watch your back."

Midoriya nodded, a nervous smile stretching across his face. "I will."

Tokoyami frowned as he glanced up at the palace; the tall spires reached out towards the sky. Countless servants moved about the palace, Midoriya spied a group of maids whose arms were bogged down by heavy buckets containing laundry that needed to be washed. Midoriya turned his gaze to the palace. Tokoyami patted him on the shoulder as he wrenched his gaze away from the alabaster white stones that made up the palace. "There's a dangerous feeling that seems to sleep within the walls of this palace."

Tokoyami patted Midoriya on the shoulder once more before climbing into his wagon and bidding Midoriya farewell.

Midoriya stood in the courtyard with Dark Shadow's cage resting in between his hands. He stood in the courtyard, watching the fleeting specks of the caravan disappear into the distance.

Turning around, he glanced up at the palace, the high towers and the windows that glittered like freshly polished jewels forced him to attempt to swallow down the lump that was growing in his throat. The longer he stared at the exterior of the castle, the longer he became convinced that it appeared beautiful on the outside; an architect's desire to give viewers a glimpse of what he wanted them to see—gilded windows, soft seashell colored stones and a beautiful set of gardens—but hid the gross misshapen mistakes behind the facade, behind the white washed stone.

Midoriya tore his gaze away from the palace to see Yaoyorozu walk towards him, her head held high and her back as straight as a board. A warm smile graced her face and it put Midoriya at ease some, but the jagged and guarded edges still remained around him. Like a rose where the thorns had yet to be sheared.

"Midoriya, your training starts now."

When Yaoyorozu had said his training would be intense, Midoriya had thought she had been kidding, but as the royal scholar for Enten brought her stick down onto the back of his hands giving him a good whack, Midoriya realized that she was unfortunately right.

Enten culture and etiquette was far more different than he was used to. He knew enough to scrape the surface, but according to the scholars and servants who were training him to get used to his position and job, his knowledge about Enten was more or less the very tip of the surface he was attempting to scrape again. As the scholar lamented about the fact that she was being forced to drill months—if not years—of knowledge into his brain in a mere day, she shot him a look that screamed he was a lost hope as he stumbled over the correct way to bow to a member of Enten nobility who was both older than him and not a member or extended relation of the royal family.

His head swam during that day. Who knew there were different social etiquettes and rules that he had to follow for each interaction that he had?

He was passed from one teacher to the next who educated him in some manner of his duties. From the royal scholar he went to the bath to be taught by the head of the chamber maids. A stout old woman who had a sharp tongue and a red face that was constantly that coloration due to the steam from the hot water that she barked out orders for the girls under her employee to heat in big copper pots and then transfer into copper jugs that retained the temperature of the water.

She taught Midoriya how the prince liked to be bathed, how to pour the right combination of sweet smelling oils into his bath and how to press the button that would ring in her area of the castle to let her and her girls know that the prince needed his bath to be filled with water that was piping hot and scalding—the temperature that he liked. Midoriya frowned, perplexed by Enten's culture in which bath water was drained and freshly prepared for each person's use instead of conserved for a single family. Even the guests of the castle down to the servants had their own bathtubs and could enjoy taking a bath in fresh clean water.

From the chamber maids he went to laundry maids who were busily flying around him as they hung sheets, ironed clothes, and beat out linen with rod wires. Midoriya had sat on a little stool and quickly rolled up his sleeves to his elbows as he helped the maids wash clothing that they furiously dunked in soapy water and dragged against ribbed washing boards. They taught him how to dress the prince, that whatever he desired to wear, Midoriya had to bring to him. How certain colors worked best for certain seasons, how Midoriya needn't given the prince a heavy vest if the birds were chirping early in the morning. How if the sky looked a little gray it meant that it would be raining all day and that he dress the prince in slightly warmer clothing that was meant for such occasion.

The laundry maids had laughed as he wrung out the shirt that he had been washing and handed it off to another girl who was busily dunking the drenched fabric in a bucket of icy, cold water.

The maids had glanced at him and told him that when the oil burned low in the lamps and there was scuttling around in the halls at night, that if the prince knocked on his door and asked him to join him in bed that there were ways to keep him happy. Midoriya's cheeks had gone cherry red, causing the maids to laugh at his expense.

From the laundry maids he had been sent to the kitchen maids and the chefs who taught Midoriya how to fetch Todoroki's breakfast in the morning, his afternoon lunch and his dinner. A kitchen maid who was around Midoriya's age, a young girl who had urged him to call her Tsuyu; her hair was a dark shade of teal and it was tied into the shape of a bow behind her back. She had personally taught Midoriya how the prince took his tea. A sweet blend that had a refreshing taste and was personally made by the kitchen staff themselves from a recipe that the royal family had gotten from the queen's family. A blend that was called Winter Rose and that the prince liked to drink it within the hour that he had woken up.

He was taught what the prince liked for his breakfast: lightly toasted bread that was slathered with a generous spread of honey, eggs that were fried to a crisp perfection, and a thick slab of smoked ham.

Later when the sun had gone down and the lamps lining the walls of the palace were lit with their soft flames flickering inside of the glass frames that covered them, Midoriya was escorted to his room by Yaoyorozu. Midoriya felt his brow raise as they climbed steps upon column of steps until Midoriya found himself in the section of the palace that was reserved for the crown prince.

Midoriya turned towards the female knight. "What are we doing here?" His nerves were already on edge as he wondered if the prince or his personal entourage of knights had a inkling that he was a foreign spy.

Yaoyorozu had said nothing, but simply lifted a gloved hand and gestured towards the door the two of them were standing in front of.

Midoriya glanced at her warily as he reached out and grasped the gold colored knob in his hand and twisted. The knob turned and he pushed the door open as his eyes widened as he let go of the knob allowing the door to swing open on its own momentum.

He walked into the bedroom—he wasn't even sure if he could call it that—with Yaoyorozu following closely behind him.

The word extravagant barely began to encapture the rich nature in which the room was decorated. There was a canopy bed pushed against the wall of the room, rich dark blue satin sheets were draped over the bed with dozens of pillows propped up against the headboards. Two floor to ceiling windows were on either side of the bed, covered with white silky curtains and lead out to a personal balcony.

There was a rich oaken chest at the foot of the bed and a closet made from the same wood and finished with golden decorations pushed up to the wall on the left hand side of the bed. There was an armoire with a golden mirror inlaid into it and a beautiful ceramic bowl that had a deers running through a meadow painted on its side. The bowl was filled with cool water that was meant for him to wash his face.

He also noticed a bell attached to the wall, but found that there was no string that connected it to anything. Midoriya gestured to the room as he turned towards Yaoyorozu.

"What is this?"

Her gentle smile grew a little bigger. "It's your own personal room."

Midoriya's eyes grew slightly bigger inside of his head, he furiously shook his head. "This is—" Midoriya gestured to the room again.

"More than you're used to?" Yaoyorozu completed his thought as she raised a single brow. "You're the prince's personal servant, you need to be close to him at all times." She pointed to a door just a foot away from the armoire that Midoriya had failed to notice. The door was painted white, a soft white that was the color of the sand that occupied the Shueian beach. Midoriya had to squint his eyes just to see the outline of it against the wall.

"That room leads to the prince's room," she continued, "You can reach him quickly in case he has one of his nightmares or...if he has _other_ needs you need to attend to."

Midoriya's cheeks flushed a bright shade of pink at the suggestive nature of her words. But he forced himself to focus on the word that she had said that truly ensnared his mind.

Nightmares.

"The prince...has nightmares?"

Yaoyorozu gave him a look that said she shouldn't have brought up the subject at all. She shook her head. "Pretend that I said nothing." Her expression softened as she glanced at the door that connected Midoriya's room to Todoroki's own. "I just...worry about him sometimes."

Midoriya wondered if weather the part of her that was worrying about the prince was simply a part of her that was a close confidant or the part that seemed as if she was much more than that.

Yaoyorozu sighed, but allowed a gentle smile to stretch across her face once more. "I'll leave you to rest. You deserved it." She nodded her head at him and left the room, the door softly swinging shut behind her.

Midoriya turned towards the bed, he spied his knapsack resting at the foot of the bed, but didn't bother to pick it up as he dragged his feet across the floor, his entire body sagged underneath the pressure of his desire to collapse into the large bed and fall fast asleep. As his knees hit the edge of the bed that was what he did.

He collapsed on top of the bed, not having the energy to attempt to change out of his day clothes and into his night one's. His eyes fluttered closed as he sank into the plush bed, the satins cool underneath his cheek and palm. His eyes fluttered open as his body wrestled with sleep. He had the upperhand, but quickly lost it as sleep wrestled him into submission. His eyes fluttered closed again as he sank deeper into the bed and further into blank and empty dreams.


	6. The Burning Sun

Midoriya stirred in the bed as strips of light coming in from the double windows surrounding his bed stretched across his face. The sound of ringing from a bell somewhere in the distance caused him to scowl.

He groaned as he rolled onto his side and grumbled, "Five more minutes."

The incessant ringing continued until Midoriya forced himself to open his eyes as he sat up in bed. He turned his head to see that the bell strapped to his wall was ringing, the clapper in the middle of the bell jostled from side to side. Midoriya glanced up at golden words floating in the air above the bell. The golden lettering spelled out a single word.

'Kitchen'.

Midoriya was impressed by the brilliant usage of magic. He didn't have much time to admire it before he pushed himself off of the bed and quickly changed out of his clothes and into a fresh pair that looked presentable and smelt clean.

He quickly went over to the basin filled with water and bent his head as he dipped his cupped hands into the water and lifted his hands to his face to splash the cool liquid against it. He repeated the motion a few more times, until droplets of water were dripping from his face and rolling down his neck.

He dried off his face with a towel that he found, a towel that was as soft as Shueian bread itself.

Midoriya rushed down to the kitchen where the chef and Tsuyu greeted him, they quickly handed him a golden tray upon which was placed Todoroki's breakfast and morning tea as well as a tiny jar of sugar. Balancing the tray in his hands, he raced up from the basement to the section of the palace where the prince slept. A droplet of sweat was already racing down his chin as he wondered why the palace had been designed with so many steps. He finally came to stand in front of the prince's bedroom door that was a few feet away from his own.

He balanced the center of the tray with his left hand as he rapped his knuckles against the door before reaching out, grabbing the knob and twisting it. He pushed the door open as he stepped into the room and felt his eyes go wide once more.

The prince's room was nothing like the bedroom he was staying in. He thought his bedroom had been extravagant, but the prince's own….there was no word that could begin to describe it. The room was nearly two times the size of Midoriya's, with a large bed that could easily hold five or more people. The bed was pushed up near the wall where Midoriya could see the outline of the door that connected his room to this one. Dark, red rich satin sheets covered the bed, hiding the lower half of the figure who slept in the bed. Midoriya's cheeks reddened as he took in the shirtless form of the prince. His back was pressed against the bed, a pile of pillows underneath his head and surrounding him.

Todoroki had his right arm tossed over his stomach, the faint outline of abdominal muscles was apparent beneath the fall and rise of his chest. His left hand was snaked underneath the pillows that he rested his head on, his head was turned slightly so that the red locks of his head brushed against his forehead and covered his right eye, leaving his left exposed to the open air. Midoriya was a little bit surprised to see the prince's mask was absent from his face, he half thought the man wore it while he was asleep as well. Glancing around, Midoriya spied the white mask on the nightstand table next to the bed, within reach of Todoroki's fingertips when he woke up.

Midoriya tiptoed over to the small circular table in the room that was a few feet away from the large windows that lead out to the prince's own balcony that overlooked the palace gardens. He set down the tray onto the table, a dark wood that had running lions carved into the sides, then stepped away from the table, tiptoeing around to the side of the prince's bed. He stared down at the prince's sleeping form.

The prince's chest continued to rise and fall as he shifted in the bed and groaned.

Midoriya held his breath, thinking the prince was awake, but as he waited a few moments with bated breath and the prince had yet to stir. He let out a small sigh of relief as he daringly glanced down at those red locks that hid beneath it the secret that the prince felt he needed to keep locked away from the rest of the world.

Midoriya lifted his hand and reached out towards the prince's face.

Carefully.

Slowly.

Midoriya's fingers hovered just inches away from the prince's skin; he could feel the warmth radiating off of his skin; a gentle heat that reminded him of the warmth one got from basking in the sun. A sharp shout of surprise was wrenched from his lips as he found himself being pressed down into the bed, his cheek was pressed flat against the plush, satin sheets of the bed as his right arm was pressed awkwardly against his back. His right shoulder burned with the pain at the awkward position that his body was being forced to contort to.

There was a hand on the back of his head that forced his cheek into the bedding and kept him pinned there.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Midoriya shivered as Todoroki's breath tickled the shell of his ear. There was an edge to his voice, accompanied by the deep growl that rumbled in his chest and left as his words spilled out from his lips. Midoriya winced as his right arm, still pinned down by Todoroki's grasp was shifted slightly, putting more strain on the muscles in his shoulder.

A lump formed in the hollow of Midoriya's throat as his thoughts flickered towards the rumor of the young noble woman who lost her life for attempting to do what he did. Midoriya cursed underneath his breath; his actions were stupid, even more so not well thought out.

He would be lucky if he got to leave this room with his head.

"For-forgive me, your royal highness," Midoriya stuttered out. "I was just attempting to wake you."

Midoriya didn't know what was going through Todoroki's head as the prince kept him pinned to the bed. The pressure on his arm and head let up and Midoriya dragged in a deep breath as he rolled onto his back and sat up. He rubbed at his shoulder as he watched Todoroki quickly move towards the nightstand next to his bed. He quickly picked up the mask and affixed it onto his face, his broad back preventing Midoriya from seeing a glimpse of his face.

"Find me something to wear." Todoroki's deep voice rumbled through the silence.

Midoriya glared at Todoroki's back as he pouted and reluctantly pushed himself off of the bed to find clothing that the prince would wear. It was going to be warm, he thought to himself as he walked over to the prince's closet.

A big wooden monstrosity that seemed it couldn't hold all the clothes of a single person within it. A nice warm day with a gentle breeze coming from the south. He wondered if he would be able to smell the salt from the sea from here. His eyes went wide as he pulled the closet doors apart. A wide assortment of jackets, vests and shirts were neatly hung up and tucked away into the closet. An assault of colors from the deepest of reds, to the lightest of blues and the starkest of whites graced the closet. Midoriya knew that within the drawers that were placed right next to the closet that he would find an assortment of pants and undergarments that boasted the same large quantity as the interior of the closet.

He remembered back to the day of intense training he had endured. With the temperature today it meant that the prince should wear light colored clothing so as not to attract too much heat to himself. So that meant any darker colored clothing would have to be cast aside for now. Reaching in he plucked out a simple white shirt and a blue tunic that was long enough that it would come down to the prince's knees and had a long collar that would cover his neck, gold embellishments decorated the front of it.

He turned, spotting the prince out of the corner of his eyes, sitting at the small table as he partook in his morning tea, before setting the porcelain cup down and reaching towards his toast. Midoriya laid the garments down onto the bed as he turned back to the closet. He shut the doors as he pulled out the drawers and quickly plucked out a pair of white pants that would go well with the shirt. He moved to the drawers again, opening them until he found the one that contained an assortment of belts. Midoriya took a simple black one out and laid it down on the bed also.

He stood near the side of the bed, silently as he clasped his hands behind his back and stared at Todoroki.

"Prepare my bath." Todoroki barked out the single order without so much as glancing up from his breakfast to look at him.

"Yes, your highness," Midoriya replied, already wondering for the millionth time that day how he would survive working for the prince.

He rang for the chamber maids, and waited nearly 20 minutes until there was a knock on the prince's door and several maids standing outside carrying heavy copper jugs full of piping hot water. He led them to the prince's personal bath chamber. A large room with cream colored tiles, potted ferns and rich smelling flowers. There was a shelf of sweet smelling liquids and essential oils pushed up against the wall, another large window that lead out to the balcony was also present in the room.

In the middle of the room was a large cast iron bathtub, with claw foots that reminded Midoriya of the paws of a lion. The maids quickly poured the jugs into the tub, until there were a few inches of space separating the edge of the water from the tub. Midoriya quickly picked out a few of the liquids and added a few drops of them into the water before returning to the bedroom.

Todoroki shoved the last corner of the bread into his mouth and gulped down the last dregs of his tea.

"Your bath is ready, your highness."

Todoroki stood up and snapped his fingers in Midoriya's direction before moving away from the small table and heading into his bath chambers.

Midoriya stepped into the room after the prince and quickly averted his gaze, a blush rose to his cheeks as in the corner of his eyes the prince began to disrobe. Midoriya could hear the _clink_ of a belt buckle as it hit the floor and the soft _swish_ of cloth as it soon followed after, before the loud sloshing of water reverberated around the tiled room.

"I'm not going to wait until this water is freezing cold for you to perform your duties." Midoriya turned his head slightly to see Todoroki's eyes coolly staring at him. "To think Shueians are so used to nudity, but yet here you stand like this is the first time in your life that you've seen a naked body."

Midoriya kept his lips firmly pressed together as he turned and grabbed a clean bathing rag from a hook off of the wall. There was a basin of cool water set up on a smaller table near the shelf of liquids and a bottle that contained soap. He dunked the rag into the cool water before ringing it out slightly. He then dumped a small droplet of soap onto the rag—the smell of roses wafted upwards to his nose—he then rubbed the rag together as the soap began to sud and cover the thick rag in bubbles.

Midoriya moved towards the prince and kneeled down behind him. His knees were pressed together as he rested on the backs of his heels. He gulped as he pressed his left hand against the prince's shoulder, slightly shifting him forwards so that his back was exposed. He pressed the cloth against the prince's skin, for a brief second marveling at the paleness of his complexion. Midoriya dragged the rag in small circular motions until the prince's back was covered in soap, then wordlessly removed his left hand and instead used it to grip the prince's left wrist as he raised his hand and washed the prince's arm and underarm. He repeated the same motion with the prince's right wrist. Standing up, he made his way to the side of the tub, and reaching out, avoiding the prince's gaze as he pressed the rag against his chest. He could feel the contours of Todoroki's muscles through the fabric he held in his hand.

He dragged the rag across his skin until Todoroki's chest was covered in soap. He pulled the rag away only to let his eyes flicker to Todoroki's face as the prince's hand shot out to wrap around Midoriya's slender wrist. Midoriya shifted his gaze away from Todoroki's face as the prince's brow raised slightly on his chiseled face.

"To think that a Shueian would be nervous about touching another's body when your country is so keen on having other's bathe together." Midoriya had been avoiding touching any part of Todoroki's lower half. He kept silent and was about drop the soapy rag into the bath water when Todoroki's grasp on his wrist tightened causing him to wince.

"If I wanted a servant who wouldn't respond or think for themselves I would have plucked one from among my father's household." His grip tightened a little bit more. "You may speak."

Midoriya dipped his head into a little bow. "In Shuei, it's common for people to bathe amongst one another, but to touch another person's body...it's _different_."

He felt his face heating up as Todoroki's heterochromatic eyes raked over his face. "Then what of the notorious bath houses in Shuei that are popular in the seedier districts? Where pleasure is merely a fingertip away?"

Midoriya averted his gaze, a blush rising to his cheeks. He shook his head as his lips twisted into a nervous smile. "Tha-that's different."

A low chuckle rose from Todoroki's throat as he studied Midoriya's reaction. "I can't believe that a person nearly a year younger than me is a virgin."

The tint to Midoriya's cheeks grew darker at Todoroki's comment. It wasn't unnatural or uncommon for Enten's nobility to take bed mates once they reached the peak of their youth or even after getting married. It wouldn't be uncommon for Todoroki by this point in his life to have taken several bed mates by now.

Midoriya glanced at Todoroki at the sound of the bath water sloshing against the tub. Todoroki climbed out of the tub, creating a picturesque scene of droplets of water rolling off of his body and down into the tub below. Like the few watercolor drawings that Midoriya had seen as a young child of foreign gods rising from the sea like monstrous titans.

Letting out a little squeal, he quickly shot to his feet, dropping the rag into the bath water as he quickly turned and fetched a towel from another hook. He thrust it into Todoroki's hand without so much as turning to look at him. "Here, your highness," Midoriya mumbled as he felt Todoroki take the towel from his hand.

He kept his back to Todoroki as the prince dried himself off before using the towel to wrap it around his waist. The two of them quickly walked out of the bathroom and into the bedroom where Midoriya quickly went about getting the prince dressed in the clothes he had already laid out.

Midoriya was buttoning up the golden embellishments on the front of the prince's vest when there was a knock on the bedroom door. Todoroki had barely called out for whomever it was at the door to come in when it swung open to reveal Yaoyorozu standing underneath the arch of the door.

She was dressed in her armor, her cape wrapped around her shoulder. She walked into the bedroom and quickly dropped down onto one knee before Todoroki.

"Momo, what is it?"

Midoriya was buttoning the last button on the vest, and he raised a single brow at the casualness in which Todoroki referred to Yaoyorozu with. His thoughts flitted back to Tokoyami's words about the possible nature of these two's relationship.

"I'm sorry, Todoroki. But you have a meeting with the king."

A scowl fixed itself on Todoroki's face, his eyes darkening as a smoldering fire bloomed in his eyes.

Midoriya forced himself to keep his attention on Todoroki's clothes—making little adjustments here and there—as he found himself perplexed about being in the king's presence so soon. He supposed the king would want to see the type of personal servant his son had gotten in his employ.

Midoriya remembered very little of King Enji from his childhood. There were very few times he had been in the king's presence unless his mother had to accompany All Might or he needed her presence. The little he did remember of the man was that he had an intimidating presence that had made Midoriya hide behind his mother's robes and press his face into her side.

"I'm not going," Todoroki growled out as Midoriya pulled his hand away from his clothing and clasped his hands behind his back.

Yaoyorozu frowned at Todoroki, her mouth turned downwards into a look of absolute frustration. "This isn't something you can get out of. The king personally asked for your presence and—"

"Then tell the old man that I'm not going."

"I _can't_ do that." Yaoyorozu let out an exasperated sigh. "Remember? I'm going to be the one who gets chewed out."

Todoroki rolled his eyes before glancing at Midoriya.

"It seems today is your lucky day. You'll get to not only be in the presence of a prince, but a king's as well."

Yaoyorozu stood up from her position on the floor as she escorted the prince out of his chambers with Midoriya closely following behind them. They walked down familiar passageways and descended stairs until the three of them were walking down the familiar hallway that lead to the throne room.

There were two guards in golden, gleaming armor who stood at either side of the door. They wore similar red capes like Yaoyorozu's own, but instead of a golden pin with a sun hovering over snowcapped mountains they bore the emblem of the king. A phoenix flying over a burning sun.

The guards glanced at Yaoyorozu and snickered as they glanced at one another.

"Isn't it a little too early for to be playing knight, Yaoyorozu?" The guard on the left snickered in her face.

Yaoyorozu glared at him as she stepped in front of the prince.

The guard on the right snickered at the comment. "Ehh, I don't think she's playing a knight, but a different role instead." The two guards laughed loudly at the joke as they both leered at her. "How about you abandon the prince for the night and come play with us instead?"

Yaoyorozu scowled as she rested her hand on the pommel of her sword. "I'm your superior, treat me as such at once and I won't seek disciplinary measures against you."

The knight's laughed, tossing their heads back at the threat of a disciplinary action. The guard on the left cocked his head to the side as he took a step threateningly towards her. "Sweetheart, obviously you don't really understand how being a knight in this castle works." He reached towards the pommel of his own sword that was strapped to his waist. Suddenly he let out a sharp scream as he quickly jerked his hand away from his waist. A solid block of ice creeped up his right thigh and stretched towards his waist. Midoriya followed the path of the ice and saw that it started from the edge of Todoroki's foot. There was a slight chill coming off of Todoroki's side that surprised him.

Todoroki's eyes were narrowed at the guard, a dark storm simmered behind them. "Are you _threatening_ my guard?"

The smile quickly dropped from the face of the guard whose leg was frozen in a solid block of ice. His skin turned pale as if he were staring into the face of death itself. "No-no. Just making a little joke is all."

Todoroki kept his cool as he walked closer to the guard, until their noses were nearly touching. "A joke? Threatening my guard is a joke?"

The guard trembled under Todoroki's fierce gaze. "N-no, your highness."

Todoroki glanced away from the man and towards the other guard who stood quivering beside the door. The guard quickly turned and pushed the doors that led to the throne room open. Todoroki let out a displeased noise in the hollow of his throat as he brushed past the guard and into the throne room; Midoriya and Yaoyorozu quickly followed behind him.

Midoriya's eyes widened as he found the throne room that he had been in just yesterday was packed from wall to wall with the bodies of what appeared to be several of Enten's nobles and noted figures.

He immediately felt uncomfortable as many of their eyes shifted towards the crown prince, especially him. It made him wonder if this was simply a meeting between the king and the prince or if this was a gallery in which everyone would be a witness to the humiliation of the royal heir.

He glanced up at the marble dais, in the king's throne was a hulking figure of a man. His shoulders were broad and even just sitting on his throne, Midoriya could tell that he was tall. He wasn't as tall as All Might, maybe less than a foot shorter or so, but his bulky frame was similar to the man when he used his Quirk. He wore a long, red tunic that reached his knees, a golden belt was wrapped around his massive waist with black pants loosely hugging his waist as well. A red cape lined with snow white fur was wrapped around his massive shoulders and pinned together with the country's emblem.

A well-trimmed beard and mustache graced his face, the same fiery red coloration as the short, spiky red hair on his head, or so Midoriya assumed as the king's beard and mustache were consumed by fire. His bright blue eyes gleamed with the same vibrancy as Todoroki's left one.

Midoriya's eyes slightly widened as he glanced at Todoroki from the corners of his eyes. A person's Quirk was either a combination of their parents own or a singular Quirk from either parent. His mind was racing to put the information together, like a jigsaw puzzle that had been upturned, letting all the pieces fall out onto the floor into a pile that he had to root through. Just for a few brief moments, Midoriya was reminded of the fact that he had to yet to see the Queen. He glanced up to where her throne was near the king's own. It sat empty, and even though it was clean and appeared to be polished often. He got the impression that it looked unused and had been that way for quite some time.

A malicious grin pulled at the edges of the King's lips as he sat opposingly upon his throne. A god sat comfortably in a world that was entirely of his own making.

The king's gaze swept over the room as he took in the banner houses that filled the room along with the other nobles, dignitaries, royal scholars of medicine, science and literature that had come to lavish him with praise as well as the dozens of servants that were meant to attend to his and his guests needs before settling on Midoriya—or at least to him it felt as if the king's gaze had settled directly upon him, even though he attempted to make himself small—especially in this room where his social status made him as insignificant as a gnat—he stood behind Todoroki, the prince had 4 inches of height against Midoriya who could easily stand behind him and be glanced over.

Midoriya's breath hitched in his throat; an invisible hand that pressed down upon his trachea and squeezed—just enough pressure so that the blood began swimming in his head and it was difficult for him to breathe. His shoulders and back were weighed down by the malicious aura that wrapped around him like wet wool, an aura that smothered him and choked all the air out of the room. It felt like he was being pinned down to the floor, like a bug pinned by a cruel child that was filled with glee at the prospect of pulling its wings off.

His eyes darted left and right as ice water ran in his veins. Not a single person looked or felt uncomfortable. They were chatting amongst themselves, a hum of noise that throbbed in his ears and was beginning to become overbearing. He glanced towards Yaoyorozu, whose blank expression was as smooth and polished as the armor she wore, though her eyes were tempered with years of drilled practice. His gaze shifted to the prince's back; he couldn't see his face, but from the tense bunching of muscles in his back, Midoriya could almost taste the displeasure that rolled off of him at having to face his father.

Again he glanced up to the dais where King Enji sat, his eyes—the color of pools of water when it froze over the moment winter dipped its finger into it—were devoid of any warmth; a cold, icy tundra that gave Midoriya the same cold feeling that he'd had just moments ago when he had felt Todoroki's quirk.

Somewhere in the distance, a servant called out that this meeting between king and prince would begin.

But to Midoriya, this didn't feel like a meeting between father and son, but an execution.

…and one that Midoriya unfortunately found himself an unwilling participant in.

* * *

 **A/N:** **You may be wondering why this chapter is longer than the previous one; well I was originally going to split this chapter into at least 2 parts but found that there wasn't any easy way to do it + there's no scene breaks that exist within this chapter for me to easily do so. So you guys get the full chapter instead! A great addition to the usual Friday updates.**

 **Also sorry this update came a date late! I was out pretty much all day visiting the pokemon center and the Jump Store in Osaka, Japan + I didn't have internet connection with me since I stupidly forgot it with me before I went to the train station. So I didn't have any means of uploading this story until now. But please enjoy the fact that it's super long!**

Also bless Midoriya in this chapter. Things don't get easier for him in a foreign kingdom and he only learns to blush more at the casual sexuality that exists within Enten. Hopefully he doesn't die from it before we get to the angst.


	7. Solar Flare

Midoriya swallowed. Enji's gaze pinned him to the throne room floor, a weight that pressed down upon the shoulders of everyone in the room.

No one dared to utter a single word out of place, make a slight movement, or so much as cough that would put them directly in the king's gaze. Instead of a court in which the king held audience, to Midoriya's observant eyes it was more or less a tense battlefield, where everyone had a sword pointed at their neck, ready to pierce the flesh and end their lives.

Enji's gaze shifted from Midoriya to his own son. He was relaxed upon his throne; a seat in which he believed no one could touch him from. That he was a god sitting amongst the heavens and everyone in the room was a mere speck that prayed to him with utter reverence, but feared him as well.

The lackadaisical attitude that the king displayed was in sharp contrast to the prince's own. Midoriya from his position could see the taut muscles in Todoroki's back and face. His normally aloof and bored expression had morphed into one of pure contempt and utter disgust as a servant called out that the crown prince had entered the room.

Enji frowned at his son, a look of displeasure burning in his brightly colored eyes. "I see that you've found yourself a _permanent_ bedmate this time around." His eyes swiveled again to Midoriya's face. Humming to himself, Enji's eyes narrowed and slightly darkened. "I always thought Shueians were slightly...weak; a pale reflection of the same attributes their leader shares."

Midoriya breathed in deeply through his nose, an attempt to squash the anger that was bubbling beneath his veins. It was one thing to insult a foreign ruler in your own court, finding safety among your own people; however, it was another, to insult a foreign ruler while a member of that nation was in your very court.

Keeping his head bowed, Midoriya said nothing even as his hands curled into fists.

Enji's gaze settled back onto the face of his youngest son as Todoroki crossed his arms in front of his chest and let a dismissive tone settle into his voice. "I haven't come here for a pleasant chat. I was called here for the sake of business; if you have no need for me, dismiss me and the members of my household."

Laughter shook the air as the king tipped his head back and pressed his hand against his stomach. Mirth burrowed itself into his veins as he narrowed his eyes at his son. "A sharp tongue." The praise was apparent in his voice. "I would expect nothing else from a son of mine." Waving his hand dismissively, the king leaned back against his throne. "I'm putting you in charge of whipping our guards into shape. In seven months' time, All Might and his house, as well as other leaders of foreign nations and their own households, will visit the palace just in time to celebrate your coming of age as well as see the brutal winters that our country offers." A devious smile stretched across his face as he pointedly stared at Midoriya as those words left his lips.

The young teen kept his face impassive at the news that All Might would be visiting the palace in just seven months' time. His head still bowed, he refused to raise his eyes, knowing that the King's eyes would be raking over his face once he did so; looking for a flicker of emotion in his eyes or a slight twitch in his face that he could exploit and wring out of Midoriya.

"Is that all?" Todoroki kept his gaze leveled and impassive toward his father.

Silence filtered into the room as Midoriya wondered when the opportunity for them to leave would come. "Boy." The single word made the heat rise in Midoriya's cheeks as he lifted his head to gaze up into the king's eyes. Quickly glancing toward Todoroki who remained as impassive and stoic as the moment they had entered the throne room, he quickly remembered the appropriate bowing position for greeting the king and assumed it.

The very breath of the room seemed to have cease as Midoriya slowly rose up from his knees at the sound of a loud pleased hum from the king.

"Your majesty." A honeyed tone lavished over those words as they left his lips.

The king let out a pleased little huff; pampering and appeasing to his ego was what seemed to please him the most. King Enji narrowed his eyes at Midoriya, a glimmer of curiosity burning within them.

"Tell me, boy, what was it that you did back in Shuei?"

Bowing his head slightly, Midoriya answered, "I was All Might's personal page, your majesty."

Humming rose from the king's throat; his eyes were dark as he looked down at Midoriya from his throne. "I wonder if All Might used you the same way my son does."

Biting quickly down on his tongue, Midoriya stopped himself from unleashing a string of words that would have had him executed before noon. The copper taste of blood spread across his tongue as a glimmer of pleasure burned in Enji's eyes that indicated that he was clearly able to get a rise out of the young teen.

Quickly swallowing down the blood that was welling in his mouth from the cut he had inflicted on his own tongue. "May I take my leave, your majesty?" Midoriya managed to keep his voice measured and calm; not a hint of anger bleeding into his voice.

An appreciative chuckle rose within the king's throat as he cast a thoughtful glance towards his son. "I like him—" Pointing at Midoriya he continued to speak, "—he has a...particular fire burning in his eyes; a fire that just hints at a defiant nature." Narrowing his eyes, the king's gaze settled back on Todoroki. "It makes it easier to pound strength into them."

With a wave of the king's hand, he dismissed Todoroki and his household from his presence.

Confusion wormed its way into Midoriya's skin. It was almost unheard of for a personal servant to leave the side of those that they served. Due to Shuei's and All Might's lax nature, as a page, Midoriya had always been free to leave All Might's side whenever the man had relinquished him from his duties for the day. But the prince requesting that he retire to his own room so early in the day had Midoriya frowning with a protest burning in the hollow of his throat.

Turning away from the green-haired teen, the prince didn't even so much as wait to hear his personal servant protest over the decision. The quick tapping of well-polished shoes against the equally polished linoleum tiles of the castle halls was the only sound that reverberated amongst the fine paintings, drapes, and tapestry that was hung upon the walls.

"Momo," Todoroki called out for the female knight after putting some good distance between and Midoriya, before realizing that she wasn't at his side.

Yaoyorozu gave Midoriya a quick, slightly apologetic look before turning and chasing after the prince's back.

Frowning, Midoriya turned his head, glancing up and down the hall; uncertain of what to do with his newfound free time, he debated trailing after the prince. After all, he was sent here as a spy. Shaking his head, he quickly pushed the thought out of his mind. There was no doubt that Yaoyorozu had keen senses for a knight and would be hyper-vigilant with every second she spent around the prince. He could sneak around the castle and try to muster up any information or rumor that was whispered behind these walls? Midoriya shook his head at that thought too, he had barely been within these castle walls for only a few days, he was too new; too green behind the ears for his position. If he was caught snooping around and asking the wrong questions it would end up badly for him.

Swallowing thickly, he turned his vision toward the large arched window before him, draped by rich red curtains with golden tassels wrapped around them. He could see a pair of darkly feathered ravens flapping in the sky. He squinted and moved closer toward the window as he tilted his head back to peer at the birds. They circled together in the sky for a brief moment before flapping their wings and heading in opposite directions. Leather tubes were tied to their feet, surely carrying a letter or some message of importance.

His own thoughts quickly turned toward Dark Shadow, who he had left in the rookery along with an assortment of birds that the castle used to send out their messages. Stepping away from the window, Midoriya walked down the hall, realizing that it had been some time since he had left Shuei and in between that and All Might's arrival to the country that was expected in seven months' time. He supposed that he should at least fill the man in on his state of health and the few things he had observed during his time here.

Walking through the halls and climbing the staircases that eventually lead him to the section of the castle that housed both his and the prince's room. Midoriya pushed his own room door open and kicked the thick, wooden door shut behind him with the heel of his foot.

Making his way into the room, he made his way over to the chest at the foot of his bed. Opening it up, he retrieved a small leather pouch that was wrapped within a thin, leather string, a piece of parchment paper, and an inkwell. He placed the items down on the floor beside him, before reaching back into the chest and retrieving a stick of wax and a stamp. Shutting the lid of the chest, he grabbed up the items and glanced around the room.

There was no desk in the room. Something he would make sure to inquire about later to Yaoyorozu.

Taking over his supplies to the armoire, he set them down and unfurled the piece of parchment paper, before taking the stopper out of the inkwell. He gripped the leather pouch and slightly tugged on the piece of leather that wrapped around it, it unfurled itself, revealing an assortment of quills that were adorned with vibrant feathers at their ends.

Midoriya picked up one and dipped the tip into the ink, before lifting it slightly and tapping the tip of the quill against the lip of the bottle to shake off the extra ink from it. Pressing the tip of the quill against the smooth, unblemished parchment, he moved his hand, letting words flow out upon the page that were selected carefully to convey to All Might what he wanted the man to know.

Scratching noises were the only sound that reverberated in the room as the sun slowly shifted in the sky. Midoriya frowned after several minutes, his hand cramped as he finally rested the quill down beside the piece of parchment. Waiting for the ink to dry, he scanned over the words he had written.

It was a simple message; he informed All Might of the warmer weather here in Enten and how it was far different from Shuei, where the leaves at this time of year were slowly beginning to turn a vivid shade of red, orange and gold as the first hint that Autumn was beginning to grip the country. There were mentions of how he was adapting to Enten's vastly different culture; he had yet to get used to the food or the lax culture that existed here. A smile tugged at his lips as he read over the part of the letter where he informed All Might of a strange boy that looked to be his age whom he had seen the day the caravan entered the capital city of this country.

A boy with purple hair that resembled a cluster of grapes, who had been confined to the stocks; rotten fruit and vegetables smeared his face as citizens crowded around full baskets of the rotten produce so that they could pick up one and throw it at him. He had later learned after inquiring about the incident to Yaoyorozu that the boy had been placed in the stocks for lechery. She had scowled; a shiver running up her spine giving Midoriya the hint that this wasn't the first time that the purple-haired boy had been placed into those stocks.

Satisfied with the letter, Midoriya rolled up the parchment and tied it was a thin piece of twine, before picking up the stick of wax. He broke off small pieces of it and reached into the leather pouch for the melting spoon, dumping the clumps of wax onto the spoon. There were a set of candles in a candelabra upon the armoire. Placing the spoon down, Midoriya quickly searched for a set of matches that he could lit the candle with. After pulling out several drawers, he finally found the matches and picked up one before striking the sulfur-infused tip against the flint upon the side of the box.

A bright orange flame bloomed to life upon the match, lighting a single candle, Midoriya blew out the flame on the match before discarding it. He picked up the spoon and held it over the burning flame of the candle as the pieces of wax bubbled and melted; satisfied that the wax was fully melted, he moved the spoon, tipped it over the parchment and watched as the wax dripped down onto it.

Setting down the spoon, Midoriya picked up the seal and pressed it into the warm wax for a few seconds before lifting it up to see the impression of a burning sun set into the red wax. Quickly cleaning up, Midoriya grabbed the parchment and left the room. He stopped by the kitchen on his way to the rookery to pick up a small cake of rolled oats as a treat for Dark Shadow.

As Midoriya pushed through a door, the smell of fresh air and the warmth of the sun kissing his skin greeted him. The only access to the tower was a stone walkway that connected the rookery to the rest of the castle. Midoriya walked out onto the walkway, letting the thick door swing shut behind him. There were two other guards out there with him, who were walking away from the rookery; he assumed from the bored expressions upon their faces that they had been assigned to patrol the walkway, but that they would turn over the patrol with another pair of guards.

Walking along the pathway, he kept to the side as much as possible. The walkway wasn't designed for multiple people to be on it at the same time. As he came within distance of the two guards who were walking shoulder to shoulder, Midoriya let out a yelp as he pivoted forward and crashed onto the cobbled stones of the walkway. Pain bloomed throughout his body as a ringing sensation burned in his ears. Shaking his head, Midoriya slightly turned it in the direction of the guards to see what he had tripped over.

One of the guards—the one closest to Midoriya—pulled back his foot that he had stuck out directly in the green-haired teen's path. There was a burning malice ingrained into his eyes as Midoriya glanced up at his face.

"Watch where you're walking next time, boy." Spittle flew from the guard's mouth as he turned and walked away with the other guard. Words bubbled in the hollow of Midoriya's throat; biting down on his tongue, he suppressed them. Standing up, he brushed off bits of dirt from his clothes before walking into the tower.

He came to a landing, with a spiral staircase that lead upward to where all the messenger birds were kept and to lower levels that he knew very little about. Taking the steps two at a time, it took him a good number of minutes to reach the top. His left foot pressing down on the edge of a single tendril of the sun that was built into the floor of the rookery. It was made of twisted glass that had been heated to bring out the vivid red, orange, and gold coloration of the material. The sun was surrounded by stone tiles, giving the floor the impression that the sun was a weed that was weaving its limbs through the cracks of the stone floor.

The squawk of several birds tore his gaze away from the floor. Above his head and around him, there were several arched holes built into the walls of the rook, containing several ravens, crows, and an assortment of birds that the castle used.

Squawking near the back forced Midoriya to move toward the sound until his gaze settled upon the dark feathers of Dark Shadow. The bird let out a soft coo as it recognized his face.

"Hey, boy." Midoriya scratched at Dark Shadow's head as he reached into his pocket for the wrapped oat cake he had gotten earlier. Unwrapping the handkerchief, he broke off a small piece of the cake and held it out toward the bird. Dark Shadow tilted his head as he stared at the cake with his dark beady eyes, before reaching out with his neck to nip at the piece of cake before swallowing it down. Continuing to break off small pieces of the cake, he fed them to Dark Shadow until the bird was pecking at his empty fingers for more.

"Ow," Midoriya muttered underneath his breath, jerking back his hand from the bird's beak. "I'll bring you more later." Holding up the piece of parchment he held in his hand to Dark Shadow's eyes, he wiggled it slightly. "But only after you deliver this."

Cooing as if he was agreeing to Midoriya's terms, Dark Shadow slightly hopped forward. Midoriya moved away from the bird to fetch a larger pouch that would accommodate the size of the parchment. Finding one, he slipped the letter inside and strapped the pouch around the bird's chest. Stretching out his arm, Dark Shadow flapped his wings as he moved forward slightly and landed on Midoriya's perched arm.

Taking Dark Shadow to the little balcony that jutted out of this floor of the rook, he pressed his forehead against the bird's side and stretched his arm outward. Dark Shadow took the hint, flapping his wings as he spiraled into the air until he pointed himself toward the south and took off until he was a tiny black speck in the sky.

Midoriya felt a little bitter about the only Shueian leaving him in the castle by himself. He knew Dark Shadow would return at most in five days. He scowled knowing that once Dark Shadow reached the border of the city, the guards would use magic to bring him down and inspect the letter he had written to All Might. But the way he had written it had been deliberate; before leaving Shuei, All Might had taught him a cypher that only the two of them would be able to memorize, certain letters and phrases would correlate to a specific letter or word and only the two of them would be able to figure it out decoding the cipher.

"Midoriya."

Taking a startled step back away from the balcony, Midoriya turned to face the interior of the rook, sweeping his gaze around in search of the prince. His voice had sounded close; narrowing his eyes, Midoriya hesitantly stepped into the interior of the rook. "Your Highness?"

"Why would I physically be where you are? Do you not know how the basics of magic work?"

Blinking rapidly, he realized that the prince was communicating with him via magic. He bit down upon his lower lip; he understood very little about the complexities of magic or its basic functions. Common in other lands, Shuei had a long history of magic being more of a luxury than a common tool for one to utilize.

"You don't have a bracelet yet," the prince continued, "so I'm resorting to this outdated method of contacting you. Come to the courtyard."

Walking out of the rook, it took Midoriya a good number of minutes and asking directions from another servant to reach the courtyard. As he walked back out into the warm, sunlit weather, he could see rows of guards standing poised and ready. Their well-polished armor gleamed in the afternoon sun. But that wasn't what commanded Midoriya's attention.

Standing at the helm of the row of guards was the prince. He kept a slow, drawn pace in front of the guards; he had rid himself of the blue vest that Midoriya had picked out earlier. Another servant stood a few feet away from the prince, the blue vest draped over his arm; ready for the moment its owner would pick it up once it was needed again.

Studying the prince, dressed now in simply a white shirt and pants of a similar color, there was a refined and dutiful air that surrounded him. While he was clearly younger compared to the guards standing poised before him, it was clear to anyone who laid their eyes upon this scene that he was truly the one in charge. From the sheathed broadsword strapped to the prince's hip, such an assertion was undeniable.

Midoriya crossed the courtyard and made his way over to where Yaoyorozu stood; the female knight gave him a quick smile as she focused her gaze back at the prince's back.

"In seven months' time, the leaders of this land's kingdoms and domains will flock to the city for the celebration of my coming of age." Todoroki continued to pace before the guards, his heterochromatic eyes sweeping over each of their faces. "You'll be undergoing training under my watch, so that you may personally show the strength and prestige of our country to those who come."

At the end of the row in the front, a guard with black, greasy hair and a nose that was slightly bent and crooked as if it had never healed properly after being fractured snickered to another guard closest to him. "We're supposed to be trained by a brat who isn't even of age? What was the king thinking?" His words came out as a hushed whisper, but by the contempt that burned in his eyes he had every ounce of intention for his words to reach the prince's ears. "If he wanted a monster to train us, he might as well have gotten the one-eyed smith to train us himself."

And so they did.

Midoriya's eyes widened in shock as they quickly flickered to the prince's right hand. The hilt of the sword that had previously been strapped to his waist now comfortably rested in his hand; the guard who had dared to speak, swallowed thickly as he kept his gaze pointed towards the sky, a thick drop of blood bubbled onto the tip of Todoroki's sword that was pressed against the hollow of his throat.

Whimpering pushed itself out from the guard's throat as ice slowly crept up the sword until the man was wincing in pain as ice coated the tip and burned against the cut on his neck. The prince's eyes were as cold as the ice that coated his sword. Shards of ice and cold frost coated his right as he let carefully chosen words slip past his lips. "If you have concerns that someone younger than you can effectively train an entire squad of men, then maybe you could teach them better than I would. I'm certain the king would be glad to hear that he has a capable man among the guards." The guard quickly shook his head, his eyes widening and sweat breaking out across the surface of his skin. Keeping his face impassive and emotionless, Todoroki continued. "If not, I could always send you off to serve near the mountains. I heard it's quite pleasant around this time of year. Nice and freezing."

Midoriya bit down on his tongue, to keep himself from uttering a single noise or word that would surely have had the tip of the prince's sword pressed against his own neck. The mountains that he spoke of made up the border of Enten and Ingeniumu that was situated just northwest of the country. The mountains were thick with snow that reached up to one's knees with biting winds, large beasts, and temperatures that always remained in the negatives. The mountains were a place where those who were unused to such conditions would quickly die.

It was a death sentence.

And Todoroki knew this.

Fear flickered in the guard's eyes as Todoroki continued to coldly gaze upon his face. "Draw your sword." Everyone's eyes widened in shock as Todoroki lowered the tip of his own weapon to tap at the leather buckle wrapped around the guard's waist that kept his own sword strapped to his hip.

"What?" Shock colored the guard's face as his gaze flickered nervously from the prince's face to anyone near him.

"Draw. Your. Sword." Todoroki hisses out each word with a biting edge to it. "If you're so confident in yourself then surely you can beat me in a fight?" A single visible brow raised itself on his face.

Shock changed to anger as the guard deeply frowned before unsheathing his own sword from his belt. Todoroki turned and walked to the middle of the courtyard before spinning around on his feet and pointing his sword at the guard, steam curled off of the metal, melting the ice and frost that covered it.

Midoriya jumped slightly as a hand rested on his shoulder, turning his head he saw Yaoyorozu give him a look before gently tugging him backward as she walked backward to give herself some distance between the middle of the courtyard and her. An all-knowing smile graced her face.

Following suit, Midoriya put some distance between him and the middle of the courtyard as he tore his gaze away from her face and back to Todoroki.

From her smile, he knew that the outcome of this little match had already been decided.

The guard let out a guttural yell as he rushed forward. The pommel of his sword gripped between both of his hands, he swung at Todoroki with all of his might, who simply raised the flat side of his sword to catch the edge of the guard's. Todoroki deflected the guard's sword to the left, causing the sword to swing in a wide arch as the guard stumbled backward; the tip of the sword dragged against the cobblestones beneath his feet, sending bright orange sparks flying through the air before the guard lifted the sword.

Another frustrated yell of anger poured out from the guard's throat as took a huge step forward and kept the sword leveled with his waist; swinging it forward to slash at Todoroki's waist.

The prince simply dodged it as he moved toward the right, instead using the flat of his own sword to slap down on the guard's wrist.

The guard let out a curse as he loosened his grip on the pommel of his sword. Using the momentum of his own movement, Todoroki spun behind the knight as he dropped low to the ground, sticking his leg out as he used it to swipe at the guard's right leg that he left exposed and unprotected.

The guard tipped backward, his back and head smashing against the cobblestones. Todoroki lifted his sword and pointed it at the guard's throat. "You were too irrational; too predictable. If I could see through you, what makes you think that your enemy won't?"

Sheathing his sword, Todoroki held out a hand to pull the guard back up to his feet.

"He's strong, isn't he?" Midoriya turned his head to see that Yaoyorozu was addressing him.

He didn't answer but silently agreed with her. Todoroki seemed like an impressive fighter; an overwhelming force that easily smothered down anyone who faced it.

A cold shiver ran up his back as the guard moved back to join the others as Todoroki barked for them to pair up. The prince turned around and fixed Midoriya with an unreadable expression as the green-haired teen decided that he would never want to be put in Todoroki's path.

Pressing the cool rag against Todoroki's bare back, Midoriya slightly shivered as a soft, gentle breeze came into the room from the open window. The sheer curtains that decorated it, fluttered with the breeze. Midoriya's sleeves were rolled up to his elbows as he scrubbed away the grime of the day from the prince's skin. Lifting the rag, Midoriya pressed it against his spine as his stomach rumbled in the silence of the room. Heat rose to his cheeks as the water in bathtub sloshed to the sides as Todoroki turned his head slightly to regard him.

"Have you not been eating?" Lowering his head, Midoriya avoided the prince's gaze. "I've told you before that you may speak freely; you're not to act like one of my old man's servants."

Lifting his head, Midoriya glanced at the white mask that covered his left eye. He quickly averted his gaze but nodded his head. "Sorry, your highness, but I'm not quite accustomed to Enten's style of cuisine."

Todoroki let out a curious hum, Midoriya could feel the prince's gaze flicker over him before there was a snap of fingers and he could hear polished boots against the tiled bathroom floors. Looking up, a faint shade of pink began to color his cheeks as Yaoyorozu clasped her hands behind her back and nodded her head at Todoroki.

Midoriya was surprised at the lack of embarrassment coloring her face as she stood in the bathroom, just a foot away from the naked body of a prince. It reminded him of the stark differences between their cultures and the unusualness of her and the prince's relationship.

"Momo." The prince addressed her by her name. "I want you to go to that shop that's just a block away from the blacksmith and the apothecary."

Seemingly understanding whatever it was that the prince was talking about, she raised a single brow as her gaze flickered between the prince and Midoriya, but she nodded her head in understanding. "What would you like me to bring back?"

"As much as you and three guards can carry."

Midoriya stood in awe as he watched Yaoyorozu and three guards bring in more food than he had ever seen before. They set it down upon a long low table that had been placed down in the prince's room since he had forced Midoriya to inform the chef that he wouldn't be needing dinner for the knight as he was having Yaoyorozu fetch him something.

The guards placed down dish after dish; the familiar scent wafting from the dishes made his stomach growl and his mouth water as the warmth of home settled in his chest. Yaoyorozu placed a single bottle of fermented rice wine down on the table with two small cups.

The prince waved his hand in her direction, dismissing her and the three other guards. "That will be all."

His gaze swept over each dish. There was a huge plate of grilled beef that was left marinated in a combination of delicious spices and a sweet sauce for nearly a week. It was topped with onions, garlic, peppers, and sesame seeds. There was another dish containing several pieces of fried chicken that were dripping with a sweet slathering of a honey-butter sauce and were topped with several sesame seeds. There was a large bowl of orange soup that was made from a thick paste produced with fermented soybeans. Spring onions, mushrooms, and cubed tofu pieces floated in the broth. In another bowl, it contained thick noodles that were covered with chopped pork that was coated with a black bean paste, sautéed bamboo shoots covered the noodles. There was a dish of pan-fried dumplings that had been arranged in a spiral; each dumpling looked like it contained an assortment of ingredients inside.

Back home, Midoriya loved his mother's dumplings; the ones where she would put a different ingredient in each. There would be pieces of duck that she had slathered in a spicy, chili sauce or pieces of julienned vegetables that were tied with a single noodle string. Or even pieces of fried pork or savory chicken.

There were a few pieces of fried, breaded cutlets of pork that had sauce drizzled over top. There were sliced cucumbers that had been pickled with salt and sugar, eggs that had been rolled into rectangles and contained melted cheese and diced ham, vegetables that had been coated in a batter and deep fried and a giant pallet of rice.

Todoroki walked over to the small table and took a seat, he grabbed one of the cups for himself and placed it down in front of him before reaching out for the bottle of rice wine Yaoyorozu had placed down earlier. Glancing over in Midoriya's direction, Todoroki fixed him with a slightly exasperated expression. "Must I serve myself?"

Midoriya gave him a quick, apologetic bow of his head as he rushed over to the table to serve him. Picking up a bowl, Midoriya grabbed a spoon and ladled a good portion of rice into it before setting it down in front of the prince. He grabbed a plate for the prince and a pair of chopsticks that had been provided with everything else as he put a piece of chicken and a little bit of the breaded pork onto a plate for him and was reaching for the battered and fried vegetables when the prince reached out for the plate and with a shake of his head, simply ordered Midoriya to give him the dish and to take a seat and eat as much as he wanted.

Eyes widening in shock, Midoriya attempted to refuse the offer, but Todoroki was having none of it. "I'm giving you an order as my personal servant and that order is for you to sit down and eat."

Midoriya glanced at the prince warily, but any thoughts he had were quickly dispelled as the prince opened the wine and filled his own cup. Midoriya took a seat across from him as he grabbed his own bowl and quickly filled it with rice. He grabbed up a pair of chopsticks and began helping himself to the food in front of him, his eyes flickered over each dish as he stuck his tongue out in concentration.

Silence filled the space between him and the prince. Though he was unused to silence when he ate—fond memories of eating with All Might and his mother on special occasions or every evening when he would eat with his mother, a smile plastered on each of their faces as they talked about the day. He did his best to make the most of it. With his chopsticks he picked up a rolled egg and placed it on top of his rice as Todoroki tipped the bottle of wine over his cup; the clear liquid sloshing against the side of the bottle and downward into the cup before he tipped the bottle upright and placed it onto the table.

Picking up his cup, he sipped at the liquid as he watched the green-haired teen place his chopsticks in one hand and press them together, bowing his head and watching his lips move softly in a hushed prayer.

The clatter of chopsticks and silverware cut through the silence as the two teens let the silence between them comfortably swallow them up.

* * *

 **A/N: Couldn't find a reasonable place either in which to split this chapter up, so yet again, you guys get a longer chapter! This one's lighthearted and we get to see a bit of Todoroki's soft side (which cherish that moment, because from here on out the angst and feels train is on full throttle and doesn't seem to be ending for a while).**


	8. Sun Burned (1-1)

A few weeks had passed since Midoriya had come to be in Todoroki's service, and he was finally getting used to Enten's culture and the complexities that existed within the castle walls. Midoriya's head rested comfortably upon the plush pillows that littered his bed, a soft breeze blew in from the open balcony windows offering a nice reprieve from the hot nights. His chest rose and fell, soft sighs falling from his lips as dreams stirred in his mind. However, the dreams parted as his eyes snapped open and he jolted upright in bed; the sound of a scream reached his ears. The sound liquefied itself into his veins; ice cold water that made his blood run cold and his heart fly up into his throat. The scream faded into silence, with a few terse seconds passing by before it came again.

It sounded like a wounded animal, a sound Midoriya had heard plenty of times before when he had accompanied All Might on a hunt and had to watch the man end the life of a wounded animal he had caught. Though the scream reminded Midoriya of that moment, there was a distinctly human quality to it that had his gaze being pulled toward the door that connected him to the prince's room. Without so much as a thought, he threw back the covers on the bed and raced toward the door on bare feet. Throwing open the door, he shouted for the prince as his gaze swiveled toward Todoroki's bed.

Todoroki bolted upright, sweat shining against his skin as he quickly clapped his left hand over the left side of his face to hide the flesh beneath it from Midoriya's eyes.

"Your highness?" Worry threaded Midoriya's voice as he took a step towards the prince's bed. From his position Midoriya could see the slight tremor wracking Todoroki's body.

"Get out." Those words came as a whisper, Midoriya craned his neck slightly forward to better hear them. A deep frown settled upon his face, his brows pinching together.

"Your highness." Midoriya took a step forward, the action bringing out a whirlwind of fury from the prince that smothered him.

"Get out!" Todoroki roared, ice climbed up from his right wrist to his elbow, a chilly vapor curling off of him as his fingers dug into the fabric of his bed. "Get out!"

Jumping slightly, Midoriya didn't waste a second as he turned on his heels and rushed out of the room, slamming the door connecting both of their rooms shut behind him. His heart throbbed rapidly in his chest as he leaned back against the door, pressing his green curls into the rough grains of the wood.

What had just happened back there?

Midoriya didn't get much sleep after that; the orange outline of the sun soon poked its head above the horizon, trails of rosy pink and reddish orange streaks littered to sky to inform him that he needed to start his day along with the rest of the servants in the castle. He quickly dressed and made his way down to the kitchens where a smiling Tsuyu quickly set about making the prince's breakfast and morning tea for him.

Pressing his hand against his mouth, Midoriya loudly yawned, tears pricking the corners of his eyes.

"You look tired."

He nodded, quickly wiping the tears from the corners of his eyes away. "I didn't get much sleep last night since the prince woke me up."

"Was it the nightmares?"

The surprise on his face must have been apparent as Tsuyu answered the question that was beginning to form on his lips. "Almost all the entire castle staff knows about the prince's nightmares." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "After all. I'm usually the one who has to mix the medicine into the prince's tea so that he calms down after he has one." As if to show him what she meant, she moved to a kitchen drawer, yanked it open and pressed her fingers underneath it. Midoriya heard a soft click as a secret compartment within the drawer opened. She reached into the drawer, lifting up a little panel of wood to expose a line of cream colored packets within. She directed Midoriya to grab the prince's cup and fill it with freshly boiled water; he did so and placed the cup in front of her.

Tsuyu went about preparing the prince's tea, retrieving a small golden orb she dropped in into the cup and slightly smacked it with the back of a spoon. Cracking open, the outer shell of the orb dissolved into the water, turning it a slightly golden color as small flowers and dried petals floated out across the surface. Retrieving a packet from the drawer, she ripped an end open and dumped the white, odorless powder into the tea.

"Asui—"

"Please call me, Tsuyu." The kitchen girl smiled at him as she went about setting up the breakfast tray.

"Tsuyu, has the prince always had these nightmares?"

She shrugged as she placed down a plate piled high with scrambled eggs down onto the wooden tray. "I heard way before I began to even work in this castle that the nightmares only began after the queen left. Chef." The large man lifted tore his gaze away from the pot he was busily stirring. "Isn't that right?"

The man nodded his head in confirmation.

"What was the queen like? For the prince to have such worrying nightmares regarding her?"

The chef's face paled at the question. "I can't say. Besides it's better to put such questions away and never bring them up again."

Confusion swept over Midoriya again. "Why? No one here to seems to even so much as mention the queen's name not to mention there's hardly any portraits within the castle walls of her visage and her thrown remains empty. Did something happ—"

"Midoriya!" Chef roared his name in such a manner that it shook the very bones of his body. The man dropped his voice to a soft whisper. "I beg of you, to never mention the queen within these walls much less to the prince himself, or else you're begging to have your head displayed on the walls. Do you hear me?"

He nodded as the chef implored Tsuyu to hand him the tray so he could quickly leave the kitchen. Tsuyu complied, quickly placing the rest of the prince's breakfast onto the tray she handed it over to him with an apologetic frown on her face.

Soothing her own feelings, he gave her a quick smile before leaving the kitchen and walking up the several flights of stairs that lead him up from the kitchen and toward the section of the castle that housed the prince's room. A trio of guards were patrolling the hallway, keeping his head bowed, he did his best to avoid being noticed by them.

It didn't seem to work.

As he and the guards passed by each other, the senior of the three—a commander by the phoenix shaped badge on his chest—reached out, smacking the tray out of Midoriya's hands, the cup of tea splashed against his tunic before falling to the floor and shattering in several pieces aside the food that now decorated the cobbled stone floor.

The commander, a man who appeared to be in his late twenties, had blond hair flowing down his back, giving him the appearance of a lion. "Haven't they taught you servants to be more conscious of your surroundings?"

Midoriya said nothing as he bent down to the ground, picking up a shard of broken ceramic and tossing it onto the slightly cracked tray. A flash of anger swept across the commander's face, settling into a practiced mask of apathy as he lifted a boot covered foot and brought it down onto Midoriya's hand. He let out a sharp howl as the boot dug into his tender skin. A devilish smirk stretched across the commander's face.

"Oops," he hissed, "You should really be more careful where you put your hands, you could end up losing one of them if a guard just so happens to be swinging his sword around by accident."

Refusing to bow underneath the pressure of such a threat, Midoriya ignored his own steadily crumbling advice to lift his head in order to glare into the commander's eyes. A flicker of scorn flashed across the man's face, removing his foot from Midoriya's hands, he simply stared down at the servant. Attempting to clean up the mess now littering the floor, Midoriya didn't have so much as a moment to let out a yelp of surprise as his back and head smacked against the rough stones of the wall; the air expelling from his lungs in a sharp wheeze. His teeth clacked together, the coppery taste of blood in his mouth welled upon the tip of his tongue.

Bringing their faces closer together, Midoriya grimaced in pain as the commander's bright green eyes, flecked with little spots of brown flickered over the expanse of his face. The fabric around the collar of his shirt, bunched up between the man's hands as his feet dangled a few inches off of the ground.

"What is going on here?"

Yaoyorozu stood just a few feet away from the foursome, a scowl twisted on her face as her eyes raked over the spilt food on the floor, the shattered dishes and Midoriya pinned up against the wall. Eyes narrowing, she took a threatening step forward as she jerked her chin in the commander's direction. "What do you think you're doing to the prince's personal servant?"

The commander let go off Midoriya's collar, his hands jerking backward, fingers spread apart as he held up his hands in front of him. A sly smile stretched across his face as he looked in Yaoyorozu's direction. His smile may have been friendly, but the coldness and disgust that burned in his eyes implicated his true feelings toward her. "Why nothing, just having a good, friendly chat with the servant. After all, it's our duty to make him feel welcomed to the castle."

"He's had enough time to _adjust_ to our culture within these castle walls," she hissed out between her teeth. "I suggest you continue your rounds or else I'll have to report that you're the reason as to why the prince's breakfast arrived so late."

The commander released a huff of incredulous annoyance, before motioning for the two other guards to follow him. Yaoyorozu kept a steely gaze upon her face as the guards passed by her, however, the commander stopped in his tracks. Bringing his lips close to her ears, he whispered a threat that even Midoriya could hear.

"If I were you, I would sleep with an eye open from now on."

The guards left, leaving Midoriya and Yaoyorozu alone in the hallway. Straightening his rumpled clothing, Midoriya got down on his hands and knees, quickly reaching for the broken shards of plates and the tea cup.

"Here." Yaoyorozu was beside him, a tired smile stretched across her face as she handed him a larger broken shard from one of the plates.

He mumbled a thanks as he took the shard from her hand and tossed it onto the tray.

"It's rough being the new person in the castle," Midoriya glanced at Yaoyorozu's face to see that she was staring at him, her eyes taking a misty, distant look to them, "But you get used to it eventually."

"You say that as if you've had a lot of practice with it." Eyes narrowing, his lip stretched out into a thin line. "And it doesn't seem like you're especially used to it."

She hummed, a sound of displeasure rumbling in her throat. Reaching up with her hand, she tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "I'm grateful to be working in the castle serving under the Prince," she shrugged her shoulders, "it's better than probably being married off to a rich bastard by now and having my third kid."

"What?" His voice reverberated off of the walls; the incredulousness he felt could hardly be contained by the implication of her words. "But I thought you could get married out of love here?"

Sharp laughter that bubbled out past Yaoyorozu's lips startled him. "It's best that you quickly remove whatever naive notions of this country and our culture that you have from your head." Lightly shaking her own head, she continued. "Women here, to some extent have the same freedoms as men; we're free at night to _play_ with whomever we fancy, our futures, however, are just decided for us."

He bit down upon his tongue to keep himself from asking her if she 'played' with the prince at night.

"I know in Shuei, it's more common for marriages to be made because of love, but just because our two countries are neighbors, doesn't mean Enten follows the same values as Shuei." She observed him as he used a broken shard to scoop up the smashed pieces of what used to be a trio of hard boiled eggs. "Here it's far more common for Quirk marriages to occur, arranged marriages to gain financial or political influence or in order to raise a houses social standing."

The two of them finished quickly cleaning up the mess. Standing up, Yaoyorozu brushed her hands together, there was something pensive about the way she stared down at Midoriya. "I'm grateful towards him. He saved me during a time I was uncertain of myself and my future looked incredibly bleak." Turning her head, she looked fondly at a banner upon the wall, just below the depiction of the phoenix in the center of a burning sun was the crown prince's personal emblem. "I simply serve the prince as a way to pay him back for everything he's done for me."

Turning her gaze back upon Midoriya, a shiver ran down his spine at the subdued fire that burned within her eyes. It wasn't the bloodthirsty and impassioned heat that he felt from the king or the cold, indifference that he got from the prince. This fire coming from her, was a fire that looked small, but was equally, if not far more dangerous than the others. He felt a nervous smile stretch across his face as a droplet of sweat traced down the side of his face and curved underneath his chin.

"And if anything happened to him—" A smile stretched across her face, exposing the whites of her teeth. "I'd make sure those who did it, suffer greatly."

* * *

 **A/N: Next update we get a really badass fight scene featuring Midoriya.**


	9. Sun Burned (1-2)

Midoriya sighed to himself as he stood outside the prince's bedroom door, an entirely fresh new tray of breakfast resting in his hands. After cleaning up the mess, he had rushed back down to the kitchens with the broken tray in hand. Tsuyu had shared a glance with Chef as Midoriya had laughed and told her that he had been clumsy and dropped the tray on his way to the prince's room, he knew the both of them didn't quite believe him, but they weren't about to challenge his claim either.

Chef quickly prepared the prince's breakfast again as Tsuyu set about remaking the tea, the two of them quickly giving Midoriya a new tray and imploring him to rush toward the prince's room as he would undoubtedly be more than upset about the lateness of his meal.

Swallowing down the trepidation that had built in his throat, he opened the door to see that the prince was already sitting at the small table in his room. The balcony windows had been thrown open, letting a warm breeze into the room, his bare back was facing Midoriya. The golden ribbon of his mask was already fastened onto his head as he turned his face to gaze at Midoriya, so that his turquoise colored eye was the only one he was gazing at.

"You're late."

Inclining his head slightly, Midoriya apologized. "I'm sorry for my lateness. I had to get your breakfast prepared again as I tripped this morning on my way here."

Todoroki studied Midoriya's face, his eyes flickering over his servant's features. "Is that what truly happened this morning?"

"Yes."

The prince continued to stare at him, for a moment he was sure the prince would call him out on the blatant lie but he said nothing, simply motioned with his hand for Midoriya to bring him his meal. Setting the tray down upon the table, he picked out the outfit the prince would wear for the day and laid it down upon the bed as Todoroki hurriedly ate. He glanced at him from the corners of his eyes; Todoroki looked far more calmer than he had last night. If he had anything to say to Midoriya about the events of last night he made no mention of it.

Finishing his breakfast, Midoriya dressed him and was fastening the laces on his leather boots when there was a knock on the door. Yaoyorozu let herself in, giving a quick nod to Midoriya before escorting the two of them down to the courtyard where the guards were already lined up. Midoriya noticed that in the front row—right next to the guard Todoroki had embarrassed previously—was the commander he had run into what seemed like an eternity ago.

The man fixed his eyes upon Midoriya's face, a gaze Midoriya was all too quick in avoiding, choosing instead to focus his own gaze on a pair of blooming fire lilies that had been planted along the courtyard. The flowers letting off a heady fragrance that reminded one of a mixture of brown sugar and cinnamon, the red-orange petals bowed their heads underneath the sun. As he tore his gaze away from the flowers, he was startled to see Todoroki had fixed his eyes upon him.

He wondered how long the teen had been staring at him for. Todoroki turned to the knights, ordering them to pair up with one another so that they could spar as he, Yaoyorozu and Midoriya went over to a large parasol that another servant was holding above his own head. There was a chair and a small table underneath the parasol that was laden with a pitcher of water, a cup and a plate stacked high with fresh fruit and cheeses.

Sitting down in the chair, Midoriya and Yaoyorozu took their places beside Todoroki's side. Midoriya remained silent as Yaoyorozu leaned in toward Todoroki's ear, she smiled at something he said and let out a laugh that was soft and breathy. His eyes swept over the courtyard, studying the soldiers' stances and forms as his fingers twitched and itched for the weight of a sword between them.

It made him antsy, the feeling of watching these soldiers train for weeks whereas he spent any free time he could in the castle's library studying up on the fighting style of Enten that was vastly different from his home country. He was especially focused on the commander, Midoriya noticed that the man's left hand was a little too close to the pommel of his sword, when he swung, he left his chest slightly open, leaving him with too many openings in which an enemy could thrust a sword into his chest. His eyes narrowing, Midoriya frowned as the commander took a big step forward in order to slash at his sparring partner, using the momentum and weight of his own body rather than pivoting to the side and following the swing of his sword.

Cupping his chin with his hand, he began to mutter to himself. "If he changed his grip, it would give him better control over the momentum of his sword. What if he—no it would be better if he just did that instead, then he'd—"

"Stop!"

The abrupt order stirred Midoriya from his observations and caused the guards to still mid-spar.

"Tell me," Midoriya swiveled his gaze toward the prince's face to see that he was staring at him, "What do you think?"

"Your highness?"

Todoroki motioned towards the guards. "Tell me what you think of them."

Midoriya's gaze flickered toward Yaoyorozu, the knight displayed as much surprise on her face as his. Cheeks flushing a dusty pink, he bowed his head toward the prince, a placating smiled stretching across his face. "I'm sorry your highness, but I'm merely a servant—"

"—If you were merely a servant," Todoroki cut him off, "then you wouldn't have been observing my guards so closely nor would you have been spending so many nights in the library studying this country's sword style." Raising a single brow, he gazed at Midoriya with a look that told the green-haired teen his chess piece had just been knocked over and Todoroki had taken the crown.

Swallowing thickly, the smile on Midoriya's face faltered slightly. He shouldn't have even suspected that the prince would have someone tailing him, after all he was a foreign addition to the prince's household.

"Now, I asked you for your opinion."

Letting his gaze flicker from the guards to the prince's face, he silently weighed his choices. He could be truthful with the prince about the guards lacking forms, but he feared that would display to the prince the fact that he had any knowledge of fighting which he supposed was already suspected by the prince's knowledge of the books he had been reading.

"They don't effectively use their hilts to block." Midoriya kept his gaze level with the prince's eyes, his hands clasped behind his back, "They're more focused on attacking their enemies with brutal strength rather than being worried their enemies could overpower them and easily cut them down themselves."

Todoroki hummed to himself. "And would their enemies be able to?"

Letting his gaze once more sweep over the guards, he gave his answer, "Yes, they'd be able to."

"Is that so?" The prince muttered to himself before sharing a glance with Yaoyorozu. "Momo, fetch him a sword."

Midoriya shivered, a chill feeling creeping up his spine as Todoroki fixed his gaze upon him. "You're going to fight—" The prince lifted a single index finger and pointed it in the guard's direction, following the line of direction, Midoriya's eyes widened at the sight of a pair of bright green eyes belonging to the commander glaring at him. "—him."

As Yaoyorozu came over to him, a longsword gripped in her right hand, his eyes flickered back to the prince's face. Although it was as smooth and impassive as marble, the small tug at the corners of his lips gave him the hint of a smile.

Midoriya swallowed.

He'd been set up.

Breathing slowly, Midoriya attempted to calm his nerves as he let the weight of the longsword comfortably rest in his hand. Loosening his grip and then tightening it, he slightly tipped the sword in his hand to get a better feeling for it. Staring at the ground, Midoriya did anything he could to avoid the commander's gaze. The man's armor gleamed underneath the afternoon sun; combined with the golden locks that tumbled down his back gave him a regal, leonine appearance.

Though this lion was one that was ready to press its fangs into its prey's neck, feeling the muscle and sinews crunch beneath its teeth as blood splattered into its maw. He knew he was that very prey.

A sharp shout forced Midoriya to lift his head, the commander raced toward him, his longword held aloft the edge of his body. Gasping, he quickly lifted his blade and slightly rotated it so that the left side of the quillion pointed upward, catching the commander's blade in between the cross of his blade and the edge of his hilt. Keeping his grip firm on the hilt of his sword, Midoriya twisted his upper torso, knocking the commander's sword aside. He let his grip slacken as he spun on his heels and held the sword behind him, the clang of steel against steel pounded in his ears. He gasped, staggering to the side, the urge to grip his side compelling as he ground his teeth. The skin beneath his clothes throbbed from where the end of the commander's pommel had connected with his side.

Roaring, the commander swung his blade over his head. Barrel-rolling to the side to avoid the impact of the blade, Midoriya missed the steel-covered boot tip that arched toward his face; the crunch of cartilage cut through the air, a warm stream of blood dripped down to his lips and chin. Staring incredulously at the commander, his tongue darted out between his lips to swipe at his bottom lip, the taste of coppery blood on the tip of his tongue.

He was fighting dirty. An incensed look burned in his eyes, cheers rising up from behind him as the other guards goaded him on, clapping their hands together as a drunken sense of near victory washed over them all.

"Commander, teach him a lesson!"

"Show him how we Entenian's never lose a fight!"

His gaze flickering back to the prince, Midoriya frowned at him, wondering why the prince had chosen him—a servant nonetheless to fight against a commander of the guards. It slightly infuriated him, to not know what game the prince was playing at and to be enshrouded in the dark. Sinking his teeth into his bottom lip, he also found himself slightly intrigued by the prince. Turning his attention back to the commander, he rushed forward, their swords clashing against each other as they danced back and forth. Taking a swing at the commander's neck, the man took a stumbling step back.

Green eyes speckled with brown widened, a dangerous grin spread across the commander's face. "For a servant, I'll give you a little bit of praise for not meeting your end so quickly to my blade. But that won't last long."

Their blades met again; the sound of steel ringing against steel burning in the air. As the commander attempted to block a blow from Midoriya's blade, leaving his side exposed, Midoriya lashed out, kicking at his ribs with the bottom of his shoe. The kick sent the commander flying to the ground, his back colliding with the whitewashed stones of the courtyard. He rolled onto his stomach, pushing himself up onto a knee, he pointed the tip of his blade at Midoriya, who knocked aside the tip of his sword with his own. Hopping to his feet, the commander beat back Midoriya with his sword.

Seeing an opening, Midoriya turned, keeping his sword pressed against his back as he blocked the oncoming blow that sent a shiver through his bones. Reaching out with his free arm, he elbowed the golden-haired man in the back of his head, sending him again tumbling to the ground. Keeping his grip tight on his sword, the commander broke his fall by placing his hand flat against the stones. Shooting upright, he caught Midoriya's blow with his sword and he quickly took his left hand off the hilt of his sword to place on the flat part of his blade, blocking the next subsequent blow from the servant.

Using the momentum of the block, the commander swung with the pommel of his blade, knocking Midoriya to the ground. Midoriya gasped as the tip of the commander's blade thrusted downward to the soft flesh of his neck, reacting quickly, he slid his left hand up the flat part of his blade, blocking the tip of the commander's sword and pushing it aside so that the sound of metal scraping against stone pierced the air. Drawing back his right leg, he lashed out, his right foot connecting with man's pristine face. He could hear the crunch of cartilage underneath his boot and knew the man's nose was as broken as his.

"An eye for an eye." He called out through gritted teeth. He hopped up their blades meeting again and again, the cry of the crowd louder now as the guards cheered on their commander. Dropping down to one knee, the crowd fell silent as Midoriya's blade slashed across the commander's stomach, a scratched line stretched across the armor covering his torso. The chirp of birds was the only sound in the hushed courtyard.

Staring down at his scratched armor, his eyes wide with shock. The smile that was stretching across Midoriya's face fell as the commander raised his eyes; there was fury in them, but not the fury he had seen earlier, this fury was one of a predator that just had been swiped at by a prey and instead of being delighted at the game was instead infuriated.

"You little—" the commander flew forward, his blade coming down as Midoriya raised his to block it. He turned his torso slightly, pushing Midoriya down to the ground with the weight of his own body. "—insignificant—" Midoriya raised his sword, attempting to block whatever blow was coming his way, the golden-haired knight kicked the sword out of his hands, bending down he gripped Midoriya's neck with his left hand, his right arm raised and the tip of his sword pointing at Midoriya's eye. "— _worm_!"

Kicking his leg up, Midoriya kicked the commander off of him. The man rolled over Midoriya, his grip loosening on his sword and pulling away from his grasp. The both of them jumped to their feet, now barehanded. That didn't seem to stop the commander, who rushed toward Midoriya, throwing a punch in his direction that sailed past the green-haired teen's cheek, the teen reached behind the man's head and slammed his hand against the side of his skull. Stumbling back a few feet, Midoriya walked toward him as the commander attempted to throw another punch that he dodged. He wrapped his arms around the commander's own and threw him down to the ground. Keeping a firm grip on the green-haired teen's arm, the commander threw up his legs, trapping Midoriya's neck in between his ankles and threw the teen down onto the ground.

Vaulting upright, Midoriya's eyes zeroed in on his sword and he attempted to run toward it, but spun on his heels at the sound of the commander's heavy step. He let out an annoyed grunt as the commander shoved his hand underneath his chin, forcing his head backward. Midoriya grabbed at his arms, elbowing him in his broken nose during the process causing the golden-haired man to stumble away from him. Spinning away from the commander, he rushed toward his sword and snatched it up, turning on his heels to point the blade at the commander's chest, who circled him warily. His eyes flickered from the tip of the blade to Midoriya's face as they circled each other. Midoriya's eyes flickered down to the cobblestone next to his feet where the commander's longsword lay. Bending down, he snatched the longsword up in his free hand and pointed the blade downward as he righted himself. Staring at the commander's broken, bloody and swollen nose, he slightly nodded as he tossed the blade back to the man who caught the hilt of the sword and quickly rushed at Midoriya who gave him a swift cut to his cheek.

Wiping the blood away from his face with a gloved hand, he glared at Midoriya, the two of them now keenly aware of the hushed silence that pervaded the courtyard in place of the cheers and applause from mere moments before. Some of the other servants and maids had flocked to the courtyard no doubt from the sounds or whispers that were currently twisting through the halls about the crown prince's servant sparring with a commander of the knights. Windows above the courtyard had been thrown open, maids leaning out with intoxicated smiles spurred by the match and the shared delight of a mere servant putting a commander in his place and besting him.

Slightly panting for breath, Midoriya watched sweat pour down the commander's face, lightly staining the collar of his tunic beneath the armor he wore. Letting out a guttural roar, the commander gripped his sword tightly, putting all of his strength into a powerful swing that Midoriya ducked underneath. His left hand sliding down to grip his blade, using the pommel, he pounded it against the man's side before arching the butt of his sword upward into the commander's already broken nose. The blow sent the man to the ground; panting, the commander gripped his blade and from his position attempted to swing it at Midoriya, moving quickly the green-haired teen brought his own blade down on top of the commander's and weaved the blade so that the upper part of the blade was hooked underneath the commander's sword. Lifting a foot, he lashed out at the commander's chest, pushing him away as he tossed the man's blade aside.

Panting heavily, the golden-haired man attempted to push himself up, but glared at the sword now pointed at his throat.

Sweat shined against the surface of Midoriya's skin mingling with the blood that smeared his face and was already beginning to dry and harden against his skin; a victorious smile curled across his face. "I believe I've won." Pointing his sword away from the commander's neck, he offered him a hand, a friendly gesture in order to pull him up but the man knocked the hand away from his face.

Slow, methodical claps caused the two of them to look over in the prince's direction. "Well done to the both of you," Todoroki began, "but it seems that today's victory goes to my servant." Turning his attention to Midoriya, he addressed him. "Return your sword to Momo and go see Recovery Girl for your injuries."

Nodding his head, Midoriya ran up to Yaoyorozu, turning the hilt of his sword outward to her extended hand. She shot him a quick smile, before grasping the weapon and watching him run off to go get his injuries tended to.

Barely lifting his gaze to stare at the guards, Todoroki calmly informed them that they were all dismissed. The guards began to filter out of the courtyard, the servants in the castle closing the windows as they all went back to their respective duties. The only ones left in the courtyard where Todoroki, Yaoyorozu and the commander. Todoroki exchanged a glance with the female knight, she nodded and leaned in close to him, her lips mere inches away from his ear.

"Don't kill him," she whispered, her breath lightly stirring the strands of his hair.

"I can't promise you that," his reply caused a grim smile to stretch across her face. He watched her as she left to return the sword she had lent Midoriya back to its proper place.

"You did a great job, Commander," Todoroki spoke aloud as he approached the man who was busily wiping at the blood smeared around across his mouth with the edge of his tunic.

"Thank you, your highness, but your praise—"

Todoroki reached out, placing his right hand down on the man's shoulder, he bent down, his lips just a few inches away from the man's ear. "But next time you should be a little bit more careful than to ever think about _threatening_ my knight, my servant or any member of my household—" the commander's eyes widened, his gaze flickered to his shoulder where the prince's hand rested, ice creeped down from the prince's fingers and was slowly covering the shoulder of his armor. "—and if the thought ever again crosses your mind, do be careful, Commander, or else—" Todoroki turned his head, his eyes narrowed and the corner of his lip slightly turned down into a scowl. "—you'll wish that I did more to you today than pit you in a simple match against a servant."

Patting the man's shoulder, Todoroki pulled his hand away, leaving behind a column of ice that trailed down from the commander's shoulder to his wrist. "Don't beat yourself up too harshly Commander. After all, who knew an insignificant worm was a better fighter than a trained knight?"  
_

 **A/N: Sorry for the weirdly looking horizontal line, for some reason the actual button to put one in seemed to not being showing up in Doc Manager for some reason? But we finally got to the fight scene and even after personally reading this 100 times over, Todoroki's final line gives me chills about the potentiality of his badassness.**


	10. Icarus (1-1)

Taking a deep breath, Midoriya attempted to quell the anger that was slowly bubbling in his chest. Reaching up with the back of his hand, he rubbed at the wet remnants of saliva that covered his right cheek. Droplets of dried blood still coated the collar and front of his tunic but his nose and all other injuries he had sustained in his match with the Commander had been healed by Recovery Girl. He had been surprised to find a short, elderly woman sitting at a desk piled high with herbs and still bubbling potions when he had entered the little room that was connected to the infirmary.

Instead of an elderly woman he had been expecting at least a young girl around his age or slightly older as the woman's name had seemed to imply. The shock on his face had been apparent as the old woman had let out a sharp, girlish laugh causing the syringe stuck in her hair as an ornament to bob.

"Not what you were expecting?" Laughing away the embarrassment that colored his face, the woman had motioned for him to take the low stool that had been placed beside her. Midoriya made his way over to the stool, noticing the syringe-like cane the woman had propped up against the arm of her chair. Her eyes raked over his broken nose and the black and green bruises that were already forming against his skin.

"My, my," the woman muttered to herself, "just what has the prince gotten you up to?"

Rubbing at a grime covered cheek with his hand, Midoriya let his eyes wander over the contents of Recovery Girl's office. "If you can just give me a bit of gauze—" Midoriya's eyes widened as he felt soft lips against his left cheek, turning as still as a statue, his gaze swiveled back to Recovery Girl's face. Her lips had extended from her face to touch against his cheek. He could feel his aches and pains disappearing; the cartilage within his nose repairing itself until he was sitting in that stool with only the dried blood covering his tunic to serve as a stark reminder of what had sent him to this office in the first place.

"There, all better," Recovery Girl uttered cheerfully as her lips distended back to her face. Midoriya simply stared at her, frozen in shock as the old woman made a huffing noise, reached out for one of his hands, turned it so that his palm was facing upward and deposited a wrapped piece of candy within it before getting one of her assistants to usher him out of the room.

The door to her office swung shut behind him, leaving his standing there with a piece of candy in his palm and his eyes still wide with shock.

Shaking his head, he sighed. He stored his anger away into a tightly sealed box; he needed to focus on his duties, it wouldn't do him well to dwell on the quiet fury inside because the prince had thrown all caution to the wind and pitted his personal servant against a highly trained knight. Breathing deeply through his mouth, Midoriya quietly swallowed the ball of anger as his feet lead him to the kitchens.

Midoriya let out a loud yelp as he pushed open the kitchen door and was greeted by a noisy clamor. The kitchen staff surrounded the door, a thousand words spilling past their lips and tumbling into his lap.

Chef laughed at the overwhelmed look upon Midoriya's face, pushing himself through the small throng that surrounded the green-haired teen—something that was an easy task with his large frame—the man scolded the servants to gather and return to their respective duties. "No one's going to eat today if you don't get back to your work. Leave the poor boy alone, I'm sure he's tired from that match with the Commander." A grumble rose among the servants as they reluctantly went back to their duties.

Chef thrusted a tray that Midoriya hadn't seen into his hands, piled high with tiny watercress sandwiches and a pot of tea. "The prince's lunch," the Chef merely told him, before pushing back out the door and up the steps that lead away from the kitchen without so much as a single word.

However, each step Midoriya took that would eventually place him before the prince's door, lead to the enmity that he swallowed down just moments earlier rearing its head to the surface. It was a slumbering beast that had awoken from its nap and, despite being satiated with food and drink, could only be kept at bay for so long. Midoriya pushed open the door to the prince's room to find the young man sitting at the table, an expectant look upon his face. He watched him; watched as Todoroki's eyes flickered to the droplets of dried blood upon his tunic, before slipping upward to his face where Midoriya could see beneath those two different colored eyes, a look of indifference as if Todoroki was indifferent to the fact that he nearly could have gotten Midoriya injured or worse.

"Your lunch," Midoriya pronounced glumly as he entered the room and set the tray down on the table, before taking a step away and clasping his hands behind his back. As Todoroki reached out, grabbing the handle of the delicate teacup between his fingers, he cocked an eyebrow in Midoriya's direction.

"You're angry," he simply stated those two words as neither a question nor a subtle observation, but a plain fact. "And you look like you have something to say."

"I don't, your highness." He bit down on the inside of his cheek, he could taste the bitter edge of his emotions upon the tip of his tongue.

"You do." Todoroki took a sip of his tea, a clearly disinterested look burning in his eyes, "And I'm telling you to freely speak your mind."

Midoriya's lips parted, a protest fluttering to the tip of his tongue, but Todoroki cut him off with a wave of his hand, placed his cup of tea back down on the tray and fixed his gaze on the servant.

Lifting a single finger, the prince pointed at him. "Despite any words of placation you're attempting to fish out after years of dedicated flattery to All Might. I am not him, and let me tell you that you are; you're angry, as angry as any human being can get." His eyes were the smoldering remnants of a fire that had just been doused out of existence. "What was the first thing I told you when you became a part of my house? If I wanted a servant who wouldn't speak their mind freely, I would get one of my father's servants and be content to listen to another tell me half-truths and prettily worded lies in order to appease me. So again, Midoriya, speak your mind. Or would you have rather that I didn't have Momo come to save you yesterday on my orders?"

Midroiya's lips stretched out into a thin, grim line and his nostrils flared as an angry puff of breath blew out from his nose. "What?" The word came out as sharp as a dagger, one that barely made a nick in the thick, impenetrable armor that the prince wore. If he wasn't so angry, he would say that the flicker of light that just danced in the prince's eyes was...amusement.

Todoroki lifted his teacup yet again, the liquid still steaming within the ceramic mug. "Momo reported to me before your little scuffle in the halls with the Commander, that some of the guards within the castle were seeking to get retribution against me for humiliating them by attacking you. A little eye for an eye treatment, so I simply ordered her to keep an eye on you."

Barely able to contain the slumbering beast within him, he could feel the iron-woven chains that held it down snapping until the beast was stuck in his throat; anger coursing through the crags of his veins. "You knew!?" The shout was loud, the anger blinding and white hot as his fingers curled into fists.

Todoroki scoffed, as if such a question was naive, imbecilic at best. "Of course I knew. It would have been ridiculous for me to not know what's going on against me or my house."

"So you have someone spy on me!?"

Todoroki narrowed his eyes as he took another sip of his tea. "There it is." There was a sneer on the edge of his words. "Why don't you let all of that anger out."

"You insufferable ass!" Midoriya roared, "God!" Spinning on his heels, Midoriya watched the door to the prince's room open, a servant stepped in with two others closely standing behind her.

"Your highness, we're here to change your—"

"Out!" Todoroki barked out the single order, causing the servants to jump slightly. The eldest one's eyes flickered to Midoriya's face, raking over the features distorted by anger, before quickly bowing to the prince and shutting the bedroom door.

"You're so insufferable, do you know that?" Midoriya ground his teeth together. "Every single step of the way, you put up a wall. You push people away from you, keep them at arm's length. Give out half answers and vague replies, but yet here you are keeping tabs on me like I'm a common thief that you don't trust."

Todoroki blinked, reclining back into his chair, he stared at the whitewashed bricks on the wall. "Have you already forgotten your position? A foreigner serving in the court of a prince as his personal servant. Especially one that's served as the page of said foreign nation's king. You don't exactly give me many reasons to trust you."

"So, what?" Midoriya snarled. "To feel better about the tiny, inkling of distrust that you have, you send Yaoyorozu or some other servant to walk in the shadows and observe what I'm doing, where I'm going, who I'm talking to? That's not how you gain someone's trust, especially not as a leader."

"Stop trying to compare me to whatever memories you hold of All Might. He is neither me nor I him. We're different, just like the moon and the sun."

"No," Midoriya shook his head, his green curls slightly swaying. "I can't compare you to All Might because there is nothing to compare. You're nothing like him and I'm glad you aren't. All Might is kind, trustworthy and warm. You're cold, insufferable and seek to keep people at an arm's length. No, you're nothing like All Might at all, but you sure as hell are similar to your father—"

Todoroki's features twisted into a dark look at Midoriya's words. The anger that coursed through Midoriya's veins found liquid ice flowing through them instead as fear settled into its place in his body. The green-haired teen could smell the thick stench of burning wood in the room. His eyes flitted to the chair Todoroki sat in and he watched as a thin, plume of smoke curled upward from the arm of the chair to the ceiling.

Todoroki's fingers were slightly shaking as he slowly placed down the teacup in his hand back onto the tray. "Are you finished?" His words were steady and calm, despite the raging fire that burned within his eyes and the slight tremor of his fingers.

His words weren't a question, but from the heat, Midoriya felt building upon his face, he nodded his headed. "Yes."

"Good," Todoroki took a deep breath, his eyes shutting closed as he turned his gaze away from the servant's face. "You're dismissed."

o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o=o

 **A/N: Okay, for some reason I still can't input a horizontal line break into any of my documents on this site. So I'm just going to use a different line break until this problem gets sorted out. I think I laughed a bunch of times while writing this chapter because it's so strange writing an angry Midoriya. It's like watching an adorable puppy get mad or a very young baby. I just can't take him seriously in my own mind. This chapter starts off right after the fight scene where Midoriya has every intention to be upset towards Todoroki for throwing him into a fight where he had every bit of a potential to die. There are going to be 2 more parts to Icarus and then after that one more chapter: Albina, until you guys are caught up with where I'm currently at with this fic. After that I may change the update schedule to cope with that since I didn't plan on being this close to my most recent chapter already, but I don't know yet. Also thank you for all the kind comments about this fic! I just haven't gotten around to responding to them all yet, but will do that sometime this weekend.**


	11. Icarus (1-2)

**A/N: Not much happens in this chapter, except the lovable Dad Might makes a reappearance.**

o=o=o=o=o=o=o

Two months passed since that incident in Todoroki's bedroom and Midoriya felt that there had been a subtle shift in their relationship. Instead of growing warmer, it had grown cold. He awoke in the morning, served the prince, clothed him, bathed him, and fetched him his meals and the only words that passed his lips were: "Yes, your highness."

Yaoyorozu, clever and insightful as she was, said nothing to either of them if she noticed the subtle shift in their relationship—which she undoubtedly did.

With every passing day, Midoriya was eager to just return to his warm and peaceful country of Shuei. He was tired of Enten; of the mind games that were played here as frequently as the board games of his childhood, of the culture here, of the tight thread he was walking on within the court.

But for just a few days, he was going to get a reprieve from all of that. Letting a sigh pass his lips, he allowed his shoulders to slacken as the warm rays of the sun-soaked into his skin. Standing in the courtyard, beside the prince, Midoriya let his eyes flicker over the carriages that slowly rolled along the cobblestones as foreign leaders and nobles from distant lands stepped out of the carries, servants flocking to their sides to attend to their needs and fetch their luggage. The prince greeted them one by one, until joy flickered in Midoriya's eyes as he saw a black and gold carriage, it was decorated with flowers that were native to Shuei and grew in the more mountainous regions; the petals were pink with a slight tinge of yellow in the center, a flower that was made up of thousands of petals with some that curled inward toward the flower.

Midoriya's mother once told him the reason the flower had become such a common symbol to Shuei was due to its ever blooming appearance, a flower that despite harsh weather and the changing of seasons never lost its beauty or petals, just like how Shuei would never lose the other symbol of its nation—their leader. The carriage doors were made up of folded mats that were made from rice straw, the carriage was pulled by two large, black oxen that were bridled with strong, red rope.

Stopping just a few feet away from where Midoriya stood, a loud shout pierced the air that was already thick with noise, the huff and neighs of the animals that had pulled the carriages to the castle and servants that were bustling around to attend to the nobles and leaders that had come for Todoroki's coming of age celebrations. "Midoriya, my boy!" The loud shout caused everyone to become startled by the noise, servants and guests alike stopped in their tracks to swivel their heads toward the source of the noise.

Unable to help himself, a smile stretched across Midoriya's face as he watched the straw mats of the carriage get pushed to the side as All Might's hulking frame stepped out of the carriage and into the open air of the courtyard wearing a black coat that sported the crest of Shuei on the shoulders and back, a black kimono was underneath it with a pair of grey pants tied around the man's large waist with a white belt. He looked imposing in such a simple, plain outfit; the air around him gave off the sense that he was a man who shouldn't be trifled with despite the calm, approachable aura around him.

Laughing, All Might rushed toward Midoriya, sweeping the young teen up into his strong arms before pulling him into a tight hug that caused Midoriya to go red in the face as All Might's arms squeezed the life out of him.

Midoriya's eyes went wide as he spotted another figure coming out of the carriage.

"Izuku!" Inko called out, before rushing to All Might's side and imploring the man to drop Izuku down to the ground so she could hug her own son. All Might complied, settling Midoriya back on his feet before his mother was pulling him into a hug that caused him to slightly bend his frame so that he could hug his mother who was now slightly shorter than him. She noted the difference too as she pulled away from him at arm's length.

"You've gotten taller." She noted, before a single sniffle saw tears spilling from her eyes. "Are you eating? How have you been? Are you making sure to get enough rest?" His mother rattled off more than a million questions per second causing him to laugh and reassure her that he was indeed looking after his own health; a clearing of Todoroki's throat had his mother fixing her gaze upon the prince once her rambling ended. Wiping tears from her eyes, Inko let her hands drop from her son's shoulder to fold themselves in her waist, she bowed to him.

"Thank you, your highness, for looking after my son and taking good care of him."

Surprise at such a deeply impassioned compliment flickered in Todoroki's eyes, huffing to himself, he clasped his hands behind his back and tore his gaze away from Inko's face to stare at the other carriages that were still filtering into the courtyard. "I make it my duty to take care of all members of my household."

"Ah, Endeavor!" The strange nickname falling from the edge of All Might's lips caused his brows to furrow.

Turning his gaze in the direction All Might's shout was aimed at, Midoriya saw the edges of the prince's lips turn downward into a scowl as King Enji entered the courtyard, his sides flanked by several knights and servants.

Coming to a stop just in front of them, the king scowled at All Might; his eyes shining with a scalding flame of animosity and hatred that All Might either chose to let go unnoticed or actively chose not to see. Holding up a single hand in greeting, All Might spoke first. "It's been a long time since the two of us met. What do you say to joining me for tea?"

There was a huff from Enji's throat, his eyes briefly flickered over the face of his son before falling upon Inko's face. He said nothing as his eyes raked over her features, Inko seemed to wither underneath his gaze, her face being firm as she attempted to hold herself up underneath his scrutiny. Saying nothing, the king tore his gaze away from her face and stalked off to another part of the courtyard, his servants and guards trailing behind him like a parade of demons and monsters.

Midoriya let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, but turned his attention to All Might to ask him the question that was burning upon his lips. "How long are you going to stay?"

The smile on All Might's lips faltered at that question. "I'm sorry, my boy, I know you must be excited to see me and your mother after such a long time, but my duties will only allow me to spend three days at most in this country. Just enough for the festivities, but that is it."

"Oh." Trying hard to not let disappointment tinge his words, the sheepish look upon All Might's face told him he did a poor job at it.

"But!" All Might raised a single index finger into the air, a placating smile on his face. "I'll make sure to spend as much time with you as I can." There was a wheeze to the edge of his words that had Midoriya raising a single brow as perspiration broke out upon his brow; it wasn't from the peak of the spring heat that pressed down upon the country.

"All Might," the tall blond man turned his gaze toward the Crown Prince, "you must be tired from your journey. I can have a servant escort you and your guest to your rooms."

All Might nodded in thanks as Todoroki motioned for a servant to come rushing to his side, before instructing them to show All Might and Midoriya's mother to spare rooms. Midoriya whispered hasty goodbyes to the both of them, before promising his mother that he would visit her when he found time to do so.

He watched the two of them disappear from the courtyard and into the walls of the castle. As they left, Midoriya could feel the heat of a pair of eyes that were observing him, turning his head just as the prince looked away to greet a nobleman of one of the many banner houses of Enten, Midoriya frowned as the phantom heat sent a chill up his spine.


	12. Icarus (1-3)

"Mother?" Midoriya called out toward his mother's back, he was slightly surprised to see her in this corner of the castle as he was on his way to fetch the prince his lunch. The woman jumped slightly as she pulled a wooden door shut. Narrowing his eyes, his gaze flickered from his mother's back to the door then back to his mother again.

She had just walked out of All Might's room.

Rushing over to her, a grim look settled on Midoriya's features. "Is there something wrong with All Might?" He hastily whispered to his mother who shook her head.

"He's fine." She patted her hand against her son's arm, attempting to placate him. "Although he's getting weaker with each passing day. He's fine."

Midoriya frowned at her words, his eyes studying the new grey hairs that seemed to be cropping up on his mother's scalp to the appearance of wrinkles around the corners of her eyes. It felt like there was more his mother wasn't saying; her appearance in the hall that contained All Might's room was anomalous, she was a royal scholar, a position that he knew offered her some degree of closeness with their leader as she had to report directly to All Might and at times had to confirm with him depending upon the nature of her work. But her room was on the other side of the castle and he knew his mother wouldn't make the trip to All Might's room unless it was completely necessary.

"Are you sure, mother? If something is wrong with him, I can help."

Surprise widened his mother's eyes, as an appreciative grin stretched across her face. Patting his arm with a warming gesture, she nodded her head. "I know, you can. But for now, I have everything covered and you shouldn't worry yourself, instead focus on your current duties."

Midoriya nodded, despite the reassurance from his mother, he couldn't help but feel doubt settle into the empty space of his gut as he assured her that he would try to find some time in the evening to share a meal with her before running off to the kitchens and fetching the prince's dinner.

As he set down the tray on the prince's table, there was a soft knock on the door before Yaoyorozu poked her head inside the bedroom. "Midoriya, All Might wishes to speak with you in the gardens."

His brows lifted in surprise that Yaoyorozu came out of her way to inform him that All Might wished to speak with him in the gardens, he supposed it was the prince's way of telling him that he would have some degree of freedom, but not much. Nodding, Midoriya walked away from the table and out of the room, the female knight only walking a few feet behind him as they walked through long corridors and out into the open air to reach the castle gardens. Even at night, the flowers here glowed with an ethereal beauty so that they served as a source of light in the gardens that had been built in such a way that guests could easily traverse the grounds without the use of a lantern or their Quirks.

As Midoriya made his way into the gardens, he lightly brushed the tips of his fingers against one of the flowers. It was the national flower of Enten, a flower that was shaped like a splitting peach with bright reddish-orange petals and a bud that resembled molten lava. Tiny little parts of the bud would shed and float into the air, carried away by gusts of wind to find new ground on which to germinate.

As Midoriya examined the flower, a sharp laugh behind him caused he and Yaoyorozu to look in the direction of the sound. All Might, having changed out of his clothes for a simple bright yellow yukata, descended down the few steps into the gardens. His eyes flickering to Yaoyorozu.

Giving a simple nod of her head, she gestured for All Might and Midoriya to walk in front of her. They did, putting a good number of feet between them and her, All Might clucked his tongue against his teeth.

"Seems like we won't be able to talk freely." He grumbled underneath his breath, casting a wary look back at Yaoyorozu, despite the friendly smile plastered on his face.

Letting a smile tug at the corner of his lips due to the infectious, positive nature of the man next to him, Midoriya slightly shook his head. "No, it doesn't seem like we will and I doubt the prince would seeing as how he's had someone watching my every move since I've been here."

Humming at that, All Might stopped and laid a single hand on Midoriya's shoulder. The contact was warm, gentle and fatherly in nature. There was something soft and reassuring in All Might's eyes as he looked down at Midoriya.

"Besides all that. How have you been? How's the Crown Prince?"

Huffing, Midoriya rolled his eyes. "Well, I never thought anyone could be a huge insufferable ass until I met him."

He didn't bother glancing in the direction behind them where Yaoyorozu was currently hidden behind two large, neatly trimmed hedges. A chuckling, snort informed the both of them of the knight's position.

Patting Midoriya's shoulder reassuringly with a gentle, understanding smile, All Might gave him a bit of advice. "I'm sure the prince will warm up to you. You must simply give it some time. After all, his father and I were like the two of you when we were your age."

Mention of the king caused Midoriya's brows to furrow together as he glanced up at All Might. "That name you called the king earlier, Endeavor, why did you refer to him with it?"

Letting out a wistful sigh, All Might's grin seemed to grow bigger upon his face. "I sometimes tend to forget how truly young you are. It's a nickname he received when we were still in our boyhood, sometimes I would accompany my predecessor on important, diplomatic events and he his father. Endeavor had—" All Might trailed off, the corner of his mouth slightly wrinkling in concentration, "—a fiery personality; he was always keen on destroying any and every obstacle in his path. Even if it seemed insurmountable, so he gained the nickname Endeavor because of his will."

Burgeoning past All Might's lips, a sigh caressed the air. "Ah, youth," there was a sentimental light burning in his eyes; the memories of his own youth clearly dredging up a bout of nostalgia within him. "The two of us had a tremendous rivalry going when we were just boys, we even always got along together."

Chuckling nervously, Midoriya didn't have the heart to tell All Might that his relationship with the king—at least not on his end—seemed anything, but a friendly rivalry. That glare the king had given All Might this morning was the look of a man who would gladly relish in watching his rival fall before his feet and gladly drink in every drop as if sipping upon a fine, aged wine. Shuddering as the salient memory of his first appearance before the king came to the forefront of his mind, his stomach somersaulted inside of him as those ice colored eyes seemed to pin him down to the floor. A mere bug among a million.

His face must have paled at the memory as he was shaken out of his thoughts by All Might's light touch upon his shoulder. The usual coruscating smile upon All Might's face was a pale shadow of the usual gleam and cheerfulness that always surrounded him. In this moment, he looked less like a leader who could inspire the masses with a flash of pearly white teeth, but a parent showing concern over the drastic change of mood occurring within their child.

Swallowing Midoriya let his thoughts turn to the childhood torments and teasing that had haunted him throughout his boyhood. The taunts in the schoolroom of being without a father, the countless children at the end of the day who would be swept up into the arms of their father or greeted by both of their parents, while he was left underneath the shade of the building to wait for his mother or one of the elderly servants from his home to come and fetch him. _A bastard child without a father? What a pity_.

Emotions that had burrowed beneath his skin and festered for years gripped his heart, making it suddenly difficult to breathe. Feeling All Might's bright blue eyes flickering over the contours of his face, he felt the man's grip on his shoulder tighten, seemingly understanding that he was wrestling with a tsunami of emotions that crested, rising above his head before pulling him underneath its waves. There was something understanding behind All Might's eyes as the man's eyes flickered to the curve of the hedges where Yaoyorozu stood.

"Midoriya, my boy, come with me," All Might whispered softly, his grip on Midoriya's shoulder tightening as he silently steered the boy towards a fountain that had been placed between a set of thick hedges.

o-o-o-o-o

Sunlight filtered through evergreen leaves overhead, a kaleidoscope of light that fell upon a lush sea of green grass that had the same startling vividness as the leaves overhead. Thick oak trees that had been felled down flattened the lush grass; the abandoned building blocks of a castle that had been brought under the submission of an enemy. Large stumps had been left behind, a task that the lumberjacks would deal with on another day.

Pocketing the pouch of coins that he had pulled out in order to quietly pay the lumberjacks to abandon their work for the rest of the evening. All Might quietly stalked behind Midoriya, his footfalls silent as the grass that swayed against his bare ankles consumed the noise.

"What are we doing out here?" Midoriya's eyes took in the wide expanse of the forest just a few miles away from the castle. Near the edge of the forest, he could hear the horses All Might had asked him to purchase from a stable hand neighing as they chomped down on the lush grass, happy to take a short reprieve from their brisk journey.

The grin on All Might's face only seemed to grow bigger, just like it had back in the gardens when he had pushed apart the hedges near the fountain to reveal a secret path that lead from the castle to the outskirts of the city.

 _"Just a secret between you and me." He had quietly told Midoriya before steering him into the parting made by the two hedges, All Might following closely behind him until the hedges swallowed up All Might's large frame._

"Something to cheer you up!" All Might's boisterous personality more voluminous than the forest before them. "Strength training! His grin was blinding as he pointed to the fallen logs just a few feet away, a few of the logs had been split into quarters, but their impressive size still would need the strength of at least two men in order to haul them to a pile of logs that were just a few feet away.

"I told those workers that you'd be doing their job for them."

The blank look on Midoriya's face quickly had All Might holding up his hands as a sweat droplet careened down from his temple to his cheek. "Fear not, young Midoriya, you're going to use One for All to split the logs that already haven't been broken down and then use it to increase the natural strength in your arms and legs to carry the logs you've split and the already split ones over to the pile." Giving him a thumbs up, All Might's grin swayed Midoriya's apprehension a little. "Don't worry. Don't worry. You'll do fine."

Sighing, Midoriya rolled up the sleeves of his shirt that he wore underneath his vest as he closed his eyes, he let One for All slowly rise to the surface of his skin and breathed deeply.

o-o-o-o-o

Recovery Girl clucked her tongue as she closely examined the bruised and blackened form of Midoriya's arms.

All Might stood sheepishly beside Midoriya, a blush of embarrassment staining his cheeks as he kept his gaze pointed to the floor in order to not stare into the older woman's eyes.

"You. Young man," lifting her syringe shaped cane, Recovery Girl smacked Midoriya in the shin with it, earning her a wince of pain from the green haired-boy who looked just about ready to black out from the pain his nearly broken arms were giving him. Recovery Girl fixed All Might with a withering stare, her lips flattened out into a thin line. "I can't believe you, Toshinori. Not only do you make the poor boy like this, but you send him back to my office when he just nearly left. Not to mention I can see every muscle in your body trembling just to keep your form like that."

The blush on All Might's cheeks got deeper. Out in the woods, Midoriya had tapped a little too deeply into the well that was One for All; he still wasn't used to utilizing the Quirk at all, despite the stamina and strength training that All Might had put him through leading up to his departure, he had only had a little bit of time with the man to focus on the abilities of the Quirk after all. As a result, his arms had ended up like what he was forced to stare at.

Worry had scintillated into All Might's eyes at the appearance of Midoriya's arms and he had quickly tossed the boy onto his horse, rode back into the outskirts of the city, returned the horses and rushed back into the gardens from the secret passageway they had taken before. All Might had yelled for Yaoyorozu, the knight rushing around the corner from where she had been standing earlier. There had been a scowl on her face, no doubt she had been looking all over the gardens for the two of them; her scowl deepened once she saw Midoriya's arms, suspicion draped her face like a widow's veil.

When they had come to Recovery Girl's office, she had seemed to glow at All Might's appearance, a friendly and familiar look passing between them, but that quickly fell when she saw Midoriya's arms and ordered Yaoyorozu out. Midoriya had been surprised at the woman's sharp tongue as she lashed out at All Might as she examined his arms, gingerly taking them into her wrinkled hands and lightly pressing on the flesh as Midoriya let out hisses between clenched teeth.

Midoriya slightly turned his head as the door to Recovery Girl's office, swung open. The wood hitting the wall beside it with an audible _smack_ , before Midoriya's mother rushed into the room. Worry caused her features to seem just a little older as her gaze settled upon his injuries, causing her skin to pale and a deep frown to tug at the corner of her lips. As she rushed over to him, she shared a knowing look with All Might as she quickly grabbed one of her son's arms, but let it drop limply to his sides as his pallor turned even lighter from the shock of pain.

"How did this happen? What were you doing? Did someone hurt you?" Her questions were like a volley of arrows that had been pointed at his direction, instead of them being loosed upon him one by one, she had simply loosed the entire quiver instead.

Shaking his head, Midoriya attempted to conciliate her fears and worry. "It's fine, Mom. I just ended up overexerting myself today and tripped down some stairs when I wasn't paying attention." There was doubt in her eyes as her gaze flickered down to Midoriya's arms again. "It's fine, Mom. I promise you, it's all fine. Recovery Girl's going to fix me in a second."

Reaching out, All Might placed his hand on Inko's shoulder, giving it a reassuring pat as he lifted his head to stare into her eyes. "Don't worry yourself sick, Inko. I'll look over Midoriya for you."

Midoriya frowned slightly as a passionate look seemed to pass between them—one that he had never noticed before—as All Might squeezed her shoulder lightly, before letting his hand slip from her shoulder. Something in Midoriya stirred with unease as All Might's touch just seemed to have lingered for a few moments too long than what was usually appropriate. He shook his head and chose to squash down the unease, simply chalking his emotions up to a tumultuous day.

Inko nodded her head and turned to part the locks of Midoriya's hair that hid his forehead before planting a gentle kiss upon the skin. She bade him to rest once Recovery Girl healed him, something he promised her he would do, before watching his mother leave the room.

His gaze flickered over to All Might, who stared at the door after his mother left. There was a peculiar emotion upon his face that Midoriya had never seen before; he no longer wore his iconic smile, but instead, there was a dour look on his face.

All Might seemed to notice that Midoriya was staring at him as he whipped his head around and slipped his smile right back on as if Midoriya had only pulled away the mask for a few seconds to catch a glimpse of the man beneath it. Reaching out, All Might patted Midoriya's shoulder reassuringly as he told him everything would be okay.

Swallowing the lump down in his throat, Midoriya wasn't certain if, after today, anything would be.

o-o-o-o-o

 **A/N: Sorry for the late update. A combination of jet lag, delayed flights, and being annoyed by a bunch of stuff that happened at multiple airports I forgot to upload the chapter at a reasonable time. After this update I think I will be uploading chapters as I finish writing them and my beta reader checks them, but that also means longer chapters to tide everyone over for quite some time, but will mean that my update schedule will change and I won't have a definite one like I've been doing.**


	13. Albina

"How could you?"

All Might winced as if Inko's words had been more than just the words of an angry mother, but a gilded knife that she had plunged into his side. Remorse glittered in his eyes as phantom pain caused the wound that stretched across his stomach and snaked up his ribs to throb."I know." These were only two words that All Might could force himself to whisper amongst the whitewashed cobblestones of the room. He kept his head bowed and his eyes fixed on the fine porcelain cup in front of him, where amber-colored tea filled the interior of the cup. A faint plume of steam rolled off the liquid and twisted itself into the air.

He was incapable of even glancing up at the pained look that he knew was burning within Inko's eyes. Instead, he rubbed small circles into the back of her hand with his thumb; a soothing gesture and one that had a displeased sigh falling from her lips as some of the tension in her body was mollified. He could feel the taut muscles in her hand relax, but a quick glance up at her face showed from the thin line her lips were stretched out into that she was rightly perturbed.

"He's just a child," the harsh whisper from her lips twisted the knife further into All Might's side. "One that isn't even of age until this coming summer." Shaking her head, her lips scowling into a frown, she whispered again. "How could you?" Each word, a sharp hiss of motherly pain.

Swallowing, All Might lifted his head to gaze into her eyes. Oftentimes he found himself forgetting that the forest green of young Midoriya's eyes were an inherited shade that he possessed from his mother. There were a lot of similar features that the two shared between one another and for that All Might found himself praising the deities above for that small blessing. "Inko," he called her name softly, a sound that had her gaze flickering to his face. "I had to; I had to do it. There's no telling how long it's going to be before my own body decides to crumble beneath me."

"Don't you dare," Inko hissed out with admonishment upon her breath, "don't you dare even think that way. It's not just you; you can't only think to rely upon yourself, you have me and you have—" Inko pressed her lips together, letting the unsaid words hang heavily in the air as she fixed her gaze upon the wall next to her so that All Might wouldn't see the glimmer of tears within her eyes that threatened to spill down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry." The words brushed past All Might's lips as he leaned across the table to brush back a lock of hair away from Inko's cheek. The rough pads of his fingers caused her to shiver, but he let them rest against her supple skin. Flattening the palm of his hand against her face, he cupped her cheek and watched her with a sardonic smile as she subconsciously leaned into the touch. "I'm sorry." The words were there again, but there was a rawness to them. "I'm so sorry for causing you so much pain over the years, for having to endure all the ridicule and scorn of the court; for what you had to endure with Midoriya getting labeled a bastard child."

Shaking her head, Inko firmly gazed into All Might's eyes. "I want to tell him."

There was a flicker of apprehension that branded itself into his face. His gaze flickered to his cup of tea; his mouth suddenly feeling drier than the fabled arid deserts of Eastern Kingdoms.

Forcing himself to nod despite the knot of apprehension that was twisting in his chest, All Might felt his lips flatten into a grim look. He knew what Inko was asking of him, a secret that both of them knew existed but neither one had the desire to utter for fear that just a single word would break the lie they had built together over the years. But a cupped hand against his cheek had him looking up and into her eyes.

There was a gentle softness there that he had seen a thousand times before but only grew to become fonder of every time he saw it. "I'm sorry," he found himself whispering to her again, earning him a shake of her head this time.

Patting her hand against his cheek, she simply gave him a woeful grin. "I knew what I was getting myself into all those years ago when I gave you my heart."

A blush dusted All Might's cheeks as Inko stood and pressed a gentle kiss against the side of his mouth. Turning his head to gaze at her, All Might didn't protest as she brought her lips to meet his. Her lips were soft, the lingering sweetness of apricots settled upon his tongue as he softly sighed into the kiss. Reaching up to drag the back of his fingers against her soft cheek, his hand snaked out toward the knot of her obi, earning him a sharp hiss as Inko drew her head back to gaze into his eyes.

"No," she scolded him, playfully slapping his hand away from her obi. There was no heat behind her words, no bite to her tone, but a playful lilt that hovered on the edge of her voice.

All Might gave her a small smile as his fingers slid down the fabric of her obi to tug at the edge of the complicated knot, loosening the fabric so that the yukata she wore slightly lost the curve of her shape. Her lips parted, his name already burgeoning to the tip of her tongue when the both of them stilled as three rapid knocks were set off against the wood of the door to All Might's room.

"All Might?" Though muffled, Midoriya's voice just beyond the door was clear to both of them.

Inko sighed before leaning forward, pressing her forehead against All Might's own. "I don't regret this," she whispered to him.

Slightly shaking his head, causing his forehead to rub against his. He let the brief moment of silence wash over them both, before replying. "Neither do I."

He truly meant those words.

* * *

Letting warm arms wrap around his waist, Midoriya patted his hand against his mother's back as she sobbed into the fabric of his tunic. He could feel the dark fabric already clinging to his skin as her tears soaked into the fabric.

"Izuku!" His mother pulled back her head, showing off the river of tears that were sliding down her cheeks. She quickly pressed her face back into the fabric of his tunic, seemingly sobbing even harder at the realization that she would have to separate from her son.

The bray of oxen and various other animals filled the courtyard, carriages shining and gleaming underneath the afternoon sun. Carriage drivers had their hats tipped to shield their eyes from the sun, reins resting in their laps ready to be picked up at a moment's notice. A forlorn smile twisted itself on Izuku's lips as he reached out and patted his mother's arm in a gesture of solidarity.

He was saddened to know that he and his mother were parting yet again, but he couldn't help but grasp onto the confusion that was rooting itself in the depths of his belly. Every opportunity of the day, his mother had cornered him. Her eyes filled with worry and mouth fixed into a determined expression as if she were ready to bear some long kept secret off of her soul. And with every opportunity, the fledgling roots of their conversation had to be cut short as he found himself busier during Todoroki's coming of age party than he had ever been before.

The party was a magnificent affair. Tables piled high with sweets and decadent foods, meats that had been roasting over fires for nearly an entire day; game meat that been hunted from the forest for the very specifical occasion and wine and spirits flowed as freely as water within a river.

Now as he gazed at his mother, her lips twisted into a frown, they parted. "Izuku, I need to—"

"Midoriya!"

Turning his head at the sound of the prince's voice, a frown pulled at the edges of Midoriya's lips. Turning his gaze back to his mother, he gave her a quick apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, mother. It seems that the prince needs me, but I'm certain that whatever you wanted to tell me can be brought up the next time we meet." Giving a quick cursory nod to his mother, he fixed his gaze on All Might who stood near the carriage, his hulking form providing a shadow for both him and his mother.

All Might nodded at Midoriya. "My boy, make sure you write to me as frequently as you do your mother."

Smiling at All Might, Midoriya reached out, giving the leader a firm shake of his hand before adding, "I will."

Giving his mother a quick hug before turning on his heels to leave. Inko watched her son's fleeting back before hearing the call of the carriage driver who informed her and All Might that it was their time to depart.

Sighing, Inko turned and gratefully accepted All Might's hand as he helped her into the carriage before getting in after her. The two sat on plush cushions and said nothing as the carriage lurched forward and began to move. A gentle breeze floated through the silk curtains of the carriage windows; the smell of everblooming flowers and the savory smells of street food wafted into the carriage as they trekked through the city until all they could smell was the fresh scent of pine and freshly turned earth. The air was silent outside, save for the humming of birds and the chatter of wild animals.

Beside her, thick smoke curled through the carriage and curled out of the windows until All Might's large form was replaced by his thinner, sickly frame that she had come to know so intimately over the years.

"They'll be another time for you to tell him." His words finally reached her ears after some moments of silence but they did little to soothe her fears.

Fixing her gaze on the vivid colors of the trees that passed by them, she allowed herself to voice the thought that was burrowing beneath her skin. "But what if there isn't?"

* * *

Rapping his knuckles against the door, Midoriya paused before pushing open the rectangular piece of wood while balancing the tray of tea in his hand. "Your afternoon tea, your highness."

Todoroki was standing on his room's balcony; the silk curtains fluttering inward to the room as a gentle breeze stretched across the land. There was a slight nip to it that signified the country's summer months would be relatively short.

Todoroki motioned with a swift wave of his fingers that Midoriya bring the cup of tea toward him. Picking his way across the room in quick strides, Midoriya held out the tray so that Todoroki could pick up the single cup of steaming tea.

Todoroki said nothing as he grasped the cup between his fingers, lifting it to his lips to take a sip of the scalding liquid. Midoriya stood silently before him, the tray grasped between his hands as he bowed his head underneath the summer sun. Pulling the cup of tea away from his mouth, Todoroki silently glanced up and down Midoriya's form before letting out a question that was humorous to Midoriya's ears that he briefly forgot his position in this foreign society. "Midoriya, are you All Might's secret love child?"

Letting out a roar of laughter, Midoriya let the tray he was holding slip from his fingers as he clutched at his stomach. Doubled over in laughter, he could feel Todoroki's burning gaze on the back of his neck as he quickly righted himself, wiping the tears that had brimmed in the corners of his eyes as he did so. Clearing his throat, he bowed his head in apology. "Forgive me, your highness. Such a thing is impossible; my father is dead and has been so since as long as I can remember."

Seemingly unpleased with such an answer, Todoroki hummed to himself, draining the rest of the tea from the cup as he continued to stare at Midoriya. Cocking his head to the side, Todoroki took a step forward causing Midoriya to galvanize his gaze. "You know," Todoroki began, "I don't really believe that."

Midoriya raised a brow at Todoroki's statement. "I'm sorry?" He blinked as Todoroki took another step and then another, forcing him backward until the silk curtains were brushing against his back and Todoroki forced him back into the room until the backs of his knees had hit the table in his bedroom, causing the wood to wobble against the back of his legs. Calmly staring into Midoriya's eyes, Todoroki placed down the empty cup on the table before leaning in close.

It suddenly felt difficult to breathe, Midoriya found out as his eyes flickered over the prince's mask. This time a simple white mask with gold trim around it compared to the others. They were so close that he could smell the scent of the perfume that the prince put on; a heady scent of summer roses that was intoxicating to the point that it should have been nauseating but wasn't.

"Midoriya—" He could feel his cheeks turning a ruddy shade of pink at his own name. "—Are you lying to me?"

The heat that was burning in Midoriya's cheeks began to spread down to his neck. "About what?" He managed to breath out.

"About you being All Might's love child."

Feeling a chuckle bubbling in his throat, he tamped it down and instead chose to scoff instead. "I already told you—"

"That your father died when you were young," Todoroki cut him off, "but it doesn't account for how All Might treated you during his stay here or I would assume prior to coming here. Not the way All Might would share his meals with you every day, take walks with you, treat you as if you were his own flesh and blood."

"That is simply one of his redeeming qualities," Midoriya attempted to counter, "he views every single one of the citizens that inhabits within the borders of Shuei as if they were a member of his own family."

Todoroki hummed at that, neither sounding pleased nor displeased with the answer. Instead, he simply drained the remaining dregs of tea in his cup and held the empty cup out for Midoriya to take and place back onto the tray.

Bowing low, Midoriya straightened the tray in his hand before turning and walking back into the main bedroom. He passed by the bed when Todoroki called out to him to wait. Turning around, Midoriya gasped as the weight of the tray slackened in his hand. Cheeks burning a pale shade of dusty pink, he attempted to avert his gaze from Todoroki's own. Two different colored eyes bore into his skin, the tray fell from Midoriya's grip; the ceramic cup shattered against the floor into a million pieces as Todoroki's slim fingers gripped his jaw, firmly turning his face so that he was staring into Todoroki's eyes.

His breath had been ripped from his body. That was the only way Midoriya was capable of describing the sensation that seemed to grip him at the throat. His face turned an even brighter shade of pink as he struggled to pull in a single breath, much less breathe out. Todoroki's face was a mere few inches away from his own; close enough that he could feel the heat exuding off of him and the trail of fire that traced his jaw as Todoroki pulled his fingers away from his skin. Midoriya watched as Todoroki's eyes flickered down to his lips, before tracing along the edges of his jaw, his cheekbones and the rest of his face with his eyes before finally, their gazes settled on one another again.

Reaching out again, Todoroki gripped Midoriya's jaw between his fingers, his thumb resting against the corner of Midoriya's mouth.

His touch was searing.

"Just who exactly are you," Todoroki whispered, his mouth fixated into a thin line as he absentmindedly stroked his thumb against Midoriya's flesh.

"Your highness" The door to the room flew open as a maid came in with a letter sealed with a wax symbol clutched between her fingers, "this came for y—" Her eyes widened and her gaze flickered between the prince and Midoriya before settling on the broken teacup on the floor. She bowed lowly, her hair falling forward to frame her face, but Midoriya could see the bright shade of pink settling itself upon her cheeks. "Forgive my intrusion," she managed to squeak before righting herself and avoiding both of their gazes; turning quickly on her heels, a movement that caused the soles of her well-polished shoes to squeak, she quickly walked out of the room, though it seemed to Midoriya more like she had never been so eager to leave.

Midoriya turned his head to the side, letting Todoroki's fingers slide away from his flesh, making up a quick excuse that he needed to find a servant to clean up the mess. He could feel Todoroki's gaze burning into the flesh on his back as he all but ran out of the room and into the hallway. His heart was slamming against the walls of his chest as he ignored the looks of confusion and interest that flashed across the faces of those he passed. Coming upon an empty corridor, he pressed his back against the stones of the wall and doubled over as he pressed the flat of his hand against the skin above his heart. Squeezing his eyes shut, he pursed his lips as a deep sigh left his body.

He got the feeling that his life was just on the verge of tipping out of balance.

* * *

By dinner, Midoriya's assumptions were proven correct.

His cheeks were burning as he glanced up to see two of the laundry maids with their heads bowed closely together and their hands slightly covering their mouths as they made vague gestures in his direction. One of the maids—a strawberry blonde—lifted her head and startled as she noted Midoriya gazing in her general direction. The maid pressed her hand against the other's, the both of them quickly gathering their plates as they rushed off.

There was a brush of another's shoulder against Midoriya's own, causing a sigh, unbidden, to pull itself from his lips.

"Don't worry, Midoriya, I don't think you're the prince's bed partner." Midoriya turned his head to see Tsuyu staring at him, her index finger lightly pressed against her bottom lip.

Cracking a sardonic smile at her, Midoriya rubbed the back of his head. "Thanks, Tsuyu, but it doesn't exactly help if you're the only one who believes that I'm not."

It was true, Midoriya supposed, it was barely winter and yet his reputation within the castle had slid to depths so low that his very worth in the castle was lower than the brothel women that some of the knights snuck into the castle grounds at night.

Groaning, he let his head fall forward so that his forehead smacked against the rough wood of the table. The skin stung as the metal spoon in his bowl of soup rattled against the ceramic.

In just the span of a few hours, within the castle, he had gone from being the prince's personal servant to being rumored to be more than just that. It didn't help that everywhere he turned, everyone believed that he was the prince's bed partner. After all, he was with him nearly every day. Their rooms were right beside one another and it wouldn't exactly be hard for the prince or him to slip into the other's bed in the middle of the night.

Midoriya's cheeks heated up at the thought, quickly pulling his head away from the table, he smacked both of his cheeks with his hands, earning him a startled raise of Tsuyu's eyebrows as the sound of the smack reverberated around the dining hall for the servants.

Even if it killed him, he was going to have this problem dealt with.

"Midoriya, where are you going?" Tsuyu glanced up at him as he rose from the table. "You hardly even touched your food?"

"I'm not very hungry," he countered, consoling her fears by promising that he would sneak a treat from Chef later for the two of them to share.

He traversed through the castle walls, careful to avoid as many people as possible. He already had enough of the pointed stares and barely contained whispers for one day.

He rapped his knuckles against the wooden door of the prince's room.

"You may enter."

Wrapping his hand around the doorknob, he pushed the door open, revealing the prince sitting at his desk. A piece of parchment paper was rolled open in front of him, presumably taken from the stack of parchment papers that were stacked neatly near the edge of his desk; judging by the quill in his hand it seemed Midoriya couldn't have come at a busier time.

Midoriya's eyes flickered to Yaoyorozu who was idly perched on a chair at the small table in the room.

"I can come back later." The words were already out in the air as Midoriya prepared to turn around, but Todoroki waved the back of his hand at him.

"No." Todoroki didn't bother to stare at him as he scribbled his signature down on the parchment paper before him, setting the quill aside as he reached for his seal and the wax. "Whatever you need to say can be freely said in front of me as well as Momo."

The color in Midoriya's cheeks crept down to his neck, he shook his head. "I can simply return at a better time, your highness."

"I think," both of their gazes fixed themselves upon Yaoyorozu who was staring at them with a knowing smile, "that Midoriya wishes to bring up those rumors that have been swirling around the castle. Something about a prince and a servant?" She raised a brow at that as Todoroki hummed to himself.

"Is that so?" He rolled up the parchment paper in front of him, warming the stick of wax over a candle before positioning it over the paper. "Usually servants don't come running to my chambers looking as if they wish to refute those rumors—" His hand stilled, the red wax forming a flat glob on its side that hung precariously on the end of the stick, "—but rather to give them some vindication."

Midoriya's skin seemed to impossibly turn a shade brighter at those words. Yaoyorozu looked intrigued by the blush dusting Midoriya's skin, but from the way she scrunched up her face and pouted her lips, it was clear she was being called elsewhere.

"Sorry, but I have to leave," was the only explanation that she gave as she rose from her seat and left the room, leaving Midoriya and Todoroki alone.

Todoroki ignored him, however, as he placed the finished parchment aside and reached for another.

"Are we going to talk about this?"

"Talk about what? Petty rumors spread around by a simple maid?"

His eyebrows scrunched up together at the lackadaisical way the prince brought up the rumors. As if they were nothing more than a trivial problem that plagued a child.

"They're not just petty rumors," Midoriya ground out through his teeth, there was a grim storm of memories brewing in the back of his mind. Memories of his mother, straightening her back, hardening her features against the countless whispers amongst the Shueian court that she was the mother to a bastard child; a quirkless one. That she was no better than a common street whore.

Intrigued by his response, Todoroki set down the parchment that he had grasped in his hand in order to twist his torso so that he was slightly facing Midoriya's direction. The light from the candle burning upon his desk, caused the light to flicker in a manner that bathed the mask covering the left side of his face in shadows.

"And why do these rumors bother you so? You're just a simple servant whose task is to wait on my every needs, fetch me my meals, and respond to whatever whim I declare." Todoroki rose from his seat, the chair beneath him creaking from the loss of his weight. With his long legs, he came to stand in front of Midoriya in what seemed to be the mere blink of an eye. The prince was taller than him by a few inches, a height difference that made it easy for the prince to cast a shadow over him, but Midoriya stood his ground. Tilting his head back slightly to gaze into the prince's eyes.

"Because," Midoriya whispered, despite himself, "sometimes rumors hurt more than the truth."

There was a dark flicker of emotion in the prince's eyes. A flicker of emotion that caused fear to bloom rapidly in Midoriya's chest that he had spoken out of turn and in such a manner that it had greatly upset Todoroki. He took a tentative step back as the door to the room flew open and he turned his gaze toward the sound to see Yaoyorozu standing underneath the archway of the door. Sweat lined her face and she looked out of breath as if she'd been running through the castle halls to reach here.

"Your highness, you need to go to the throne room. There's an important meeting being held there, right now."

Todoroki loomed glum at the announcement. "Tell me one good reason why I should go? Inform my father that I'm not attending. I'm in no mood to listen to that old man—"

She drew in a deep breath, the color in her face seeming to drain as she closed her eyes and curled her hands into fists, before sighing as she cut apart an invisible cord that she only had knowledge of. "Your brother is getting married."

The color in Todoroki's fast drained so quickly that Midoriya thought he looked like a sheet of ice. Hollow on the inside; so clear that you could see all the facets of it as you turned to admire it at every angle, except for the one you truly wanted to see. You could never see straight through it.

"Take me to him," was the strangled reply that fell from his lips.

Yaoyorozu nodded, her gaze briefly flickering in Midoriya's direction before she turned and walked out of the room, Todoroki trailing after her in a blind stupor. The door clanged shut after them both, leaving Midoriya alone in the room; the candles on the desk were burning so lowly that they were little more than pools of wax at this point, but despite the slight warmth generated by the candles and of the room, he couldn't help himself but to shiver.

A cold chill creeping up his spine as he forced his legs to move; throwing open the door that lead out of the room, he stepped into the hallway and let the door clang shut behind him Behind a scene he felt he shouldn't have witnessed. Behind the exposing of an emotional scar so large that he couldn't scrub the paleness of the prince's skin from his mind.

Or the light draining from his eyes.

Tonight, he'd seen a side of the prince he doubted anyone but Yaoyorozu had been privy to see before.

Some part of him doubted that this very moment would be the last.

* * *

An almost humorous quality hung in the air, Midoriya concluded as he stepped into the throne room. There was only a handful of officials, the royal scribe and some new faces of what appeared to be nobles that he had never seen before.

The king was prostrated upon the throne, his cheek resting against his fist with a bored expression upon his face that was in juxtaposition with the satisfied smirk gracing his lips. His eyes were directly focused upon his son.

Midoriya's gaze settled on Todoroki's back. The prince's hands were still curled into fists, but his blank features had warped into one of pure, unbridled anger. Yaoyorozu was at his side, her mouth open in shock, her onyx colored eyes brimming with concern and a look of plea."I would listen to that knight you have at your side, boy." The king motioned to Yaoyorozu with the back of his hand. "And your brother as well."

Midoriya finally noticed Todoroki's older brother was in the throne room as well. His hands were clasped behind his back, his lips twisted into a frown as he kept his eyes pointed toward the ground before him.

"My lord." Midoriya focused his attention upon one of the new faces he had spotted earlier. A thin, lanky man who seemed to drown beneath the elegant finery of his clothes and the jewelry he wore. His head was completely bald, but it did little to remove the impression that Midoriya felt for the man's very appearance and nature reminding him of a rat. The man's fingers reached up to stroke the grey hairs of his handlebar mustache. His beady eyes focused upon the king as he gave him a gratuitous bow. "I believe that we should have this marriage arranged as soon as possible. After all, I'm—"

"Fine," the king dismissed him with the single word. "We'll arrange for the wedding to be held before the Snow crocus bloom."

There was a small inaudible hiss as Midoriya sucked in a breath at the announcement; the same time Todoroki's brother went ashen in the face and his body becoming as rigid and stiff as a man who had the life sucked out of him. That was barely enough time to plan a wedding, much less hold one. By Midoriya's calculations that was barely two months time. He wondered whom the prince's brother was marrying that prompted this swift and unusual arrangement.

Midoriya's eyes flickered to Todoroki's face; the skin along his neck, leading up to the tips of his ears were a vivid shade of vermillion. His bottom lip was pulled into his mouth; his top teeth sinking into the flesh as he looked as if he was attempting to restrain himself from making actions he would later regret.

Raising a brow at his youngest son, the king frowned at his appearance as if he were no more than a cumbersome bug that had dared to appear in his presence. "Why are you still standing before me? Leave. This matter doesn't concern you."

For a second, Midoriya thought Todoroki would protest, but he simply bowed his head and announced that he was leaving as he spun on his heel and nearly trampled Midoriya down on his way to leave the throne room.

There was a flicker of concern on Yaoyorozu's face as she chased after Todoroki, briefly glancing at Midoriya on her way out.

Confused by what he had just witnessed, Midoriya left the throne room, barrelling out into the dark corridor of the castle, soft orbs of light floated in the candelabra that were mounted on the walls as Midoriya spotted Yaoyorozu just down the corridor. Her shoulders slumped with an invisible weight that had him frowning and piqued his curiosity.

"Hey!"

She turned around at the sound of Midoriya's voice as he ran toward her.

"What was that back there? I've never seen—"

Yaoyorozu cut him off with a hissing breath and a shake of her head. "I've made a choice to look past your inquisitive nature before, Midoriya, but this is simply one of those cases where I suggest you truly begin to act and behave like a servant—" Midoriya's spine stiffened at her words, his eyes darkening as regarded the woman in front of him for the first time as a potential threat. She leaned in closer to him, close enough that he could smell the salty tang of her sweat mixed with the lighter scent of roses. Her lips were beside his ear as she spoke, her breath tickling the sensitive skin. "—or else you'll give me even more reason that letting you stay beside Todoroki's side was a decision that I will come to regret."

She pulled away from him, the warm smile that usually graced her face was gone and made her look colder than ever before. With one final warning look, she turned on her heel and walked away from him, leaving Midoriya alone in that corridor to wonder for the first time in months if his presence inside the castle was a mistake.

A week had passed since Yaoyorozu's threat.

Wrinkling his nose at the scent of impending rain that filtered its way into the prince's bedroom via the open doors that lead to the balcony. Midoriya frowned as he kept his gaze pointed at the floor, his hands clasped behind his back as the prince scowled down at his breakfast, both of them ignoring the clothes Midoriya had already laid out on his bed. A silent reminder of the occasion neither of them were keen to celebrate.

There was a knock on the door as Yaoyorozu's voice filtered into the room, "Your highness, the carriage is ready."

Standing from his seat, Todoroki addressed Midoriya, his breakfast left untouched and his toasted bread soggy with melted butter. "Let's get this over with, shall we?"

He didn't say a single word as he stripped Todoroki out of his sleeping garments and into the slightly thicker attire he had laid out—a simple blue vest that had white fur lining the insides, with buttons that shone like diamonds and a pair of dark indigo-colored pants to compliment it. As Midoriya slipped one of the Todoroki's arms into the vest, he could see the taut lines of muscle in his back that indicated Todoroki was far more nervous than he was letting on.

Once Todoroki was dressed, they—including Yaoyorozu—departed for the carriage. Keeping his eyes focused on the view outside of the carriage window, Midoriya soaked up much of the city scenery that passed by as he hadn't explored anywhere outside of the castle since he had arrived what had seemed like ages ago.

Passing by weekend markets that were crammed with goods, vendors and people alike. The cries of exotic spices, grains, and fabric from Shuei; game from Ingeniumu as well as a precious blue jewel that could only be found in the country that was renowned for its vibrancy as well as the natural energy that the gem could exert. He spotted a few people milling about the crowds—no doubtedly from the nomadic tribes—they were bogged down in furs and heavy boots, the few articles of clothing they wore left more skin uncovered that not. Necklaces and other jewelry made of animal bones and teeth graced their bodies alongside the thick black lines of tattoos that were etched into their skin.

Some had goods from distant lands that Midoriya couldn't even pronounce the names of nor where things that he assumed had been legally procured.

Midoriya's brows raised silently in surprise when he found the carriage leaving the city only to head out of the western gate, a road that lead to the kingdom of Ingeniumu. Traveling for at least what seemed like an hour, Midoriya watched as brick and stone buildings gave way to thick woods that were clustered with trees; the barks so thick that they blotted out any light that attempted to filter its way into the woods. The chirping and howling of animals that lurked within them did little to abide Midoriya's fear, curling his toes inside of his boots he took a little comfort in knowing that there was a hidden dagger tucked away in his right boot.

After a few minutes, when dusk was beginning to fall, the carriage lurched to a stop and all three of them got out with Midoriya squinting up at the tall building before him that was a sentry amidst the towering trees.

It was a red, wooden pagoda with sleek black roofing; an odd site just halfway between Enten and Ingeniumu. There was a gravel pathway laid out between the trunks of two trees that were lined by red paper lanterns. Yaoyorozu and Todoroki walked ahead of him, giving him some time to casually take in the lanterns lining the walkway as well as the pagoda that towered above him. Surprise wasn't enough to encapsulate how he felt to see a bit of Shueian architecture in the middle of nowhere. When they came to a manufactured clearing there was a young woman dressed in a beautiful light blue kimono decorated with pink bellflowers and a wisteria colored obi wrapped around her waist.

Her dark hair that was twisted in a bun bobbed slightly as she bowed to all three of them, her hands folded lightly in her lap as she lifted her head and inclined it towards Todoroki. "You must be the Crown Prince? Please follow me, the other guests are already waiting." Her eyes widened in surprise when her gaze swept over Yaoyorozu and Midoriya, he nodded silently in greeting and an acknowledgment that he was a fellow countryman causing her smile to get a little wider before she lead all three of them to a little bridge that curved over an artificial moat.

Waterlilies floated along the surface, the water a darker shade of blue as the light of the setting sun reflected across it. They were lead into the interior of the pagoda where countless other Shueian women dressed in kimonos cast them inquisitive glances as they rushed by. Their guide lead them down a corridor and up three flights of stairs, past rooms where raucous laughter flowed as easily as the rice wine Midoriya saw the women tipping into the cups of men they were entertaining as other women strummed picks against the thin guitar-like instruments resting in their laps as their fellow coworkers attempted to get the men to dance in time with the strumming of the strings.

Finally reaching what seemed like a private room, their guide slipped her fingers into the groove of a paper screen door before pushing it back, revealing Todoroki's older brother and sister who were already seated on thick cushions that had been placed on the floor. There were three other young men who surrounded them, they all looked to be around Todoroki's brother's age and wore fine clothes that easily gave away their status.

"Please have a seat. Refreshments will be coming shortly." Their guide motioned for them to enter the room, when all three of them had stepped in she turned, letting the screen slide shut behind her.

"Brother." Todoroki's brother motioned towards him with the tiny cup he had grasped in his right hand, liquid sloshed against the sides before arching out of the porcelain and splashing some of its contents across his fingers. His speech was a bit slurried; considering the empty bottle of rice wine and the nearly empty bottle that he had clutched in his other hand he had been drinking since he had arrived and was now at least a little tipsy. "Come join us, drink up as much as you like, after all, you are attending the party before my funeral."

Her face falling at the dark humor, Todoroki's sister, Fuyumi, leaned closer toward her brother and sucked in a hissing breath. "Natsu," she scolded, her voice heavy with displeasure, "you shouldn't make jokes like that."

He frowned at her, his fingers shaking as he tilted his head back to drink the remainder of the rice wine in his cup before setting the empty cup down onto the table with enough force that the table shook beneath his fist. "Don't you dare try and act like mom." The anger in his voice caused the words to crack in the air like a whip, seeing as how Fuyumi jerked back away from the table as if she'd been physically been struck by the words. "You and I both know why she isn't here." As those words slipped from his mouth, he glared at Todoroki. The tension was nearly palatable in the room, a stark contrast to the carefree and kind-hearted aura that always seemed to cling to Natsuo's person.

It didn't take a fool to see that the alcohol sloshing through Natsuo's veins had given him more than enough liquid courage that he dared to throw open the dusty closet on some of the royal family's secrets.

Reaching out, Fuyumi wrapped her hand around her brother's wrist, her mouth turned downward into a frown. "Natsuo, don't forget where we are. You're being unbecom—"

Fuyumi gasped as Natsuo yanked his wrist from her grip, his head gaze snapping upon her. "I know exactly where I am! Or have you forgotten that we live in a bird cage?"

"I hav—"

Natsuo cut his sister off, his rage a forest fire that was only growing with every passing minute. "You don't get it, do you? You have it so much easier because you're you."

Anger flickered across Fuyumi's face. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Rolling his eyes, Natsuo reached out for the bottle of rice wine in front of him and frowned when he shook it only to find that there was a little bit of wine in it. "You'll be happy with whatever spouse father thrusts before you. Me? I didn't get a choice in the matter, it's whoever father picks is who I get." He frowned as a shudder wracked over his body at the thought of his bride. "Not only does he despise that we exist, but he gave me a bride that's as built like a bear, hideous to look at, and five years older than me."

On Natsuo's right-hand side, the guy next to him—teal-haired and a nose that was much too large for his face—smacked him on his arm with the back of his hand before letting out a clamorous laugh as if Natsuo had just said a particular joke that had been abundantly hilarious. Natsuo's other two friends joined in on the laughter as the teal haired man wiped stray tears leaking from his eyes as he slapped his hand, palm side down, onto the table. "At least you won't have to see her face during your wedding night. You can just keep your eyes closed and imagine someone else."

One of the other friends snorted, giving a simple shake of his head before adding, "Or he can always imagine an actual bear lying below him instead."

That caused a nauseating roar of laughter to swirl in the room, despite the reddening of Natsuo's face and the look of devastation on Fuyumi's at the men's callous comments.

The door to the room slid open again, this time four women came into the room. All four of them had their hands laden with snacks and trays full of bottles of rice wine and cups. Their guide from earlier was amongst the four women. Inclining her head towards the empty cushions that surrounded the table, she persuaded Midoriya, Todoroki, and Yaoyorozu to take the empty seats.

Seeing as there were only two empty seats surrounding the table, Midoriya stood behind Todoroki, his hands clasped behind his back. Their guide gave him a shy smile; a smile that seemed apologetic for the stark differences between their shared culture and the culture she was entertaining for the evening.

A yelp was drawn out of from her lips as Midoriya watched her get pulled into the lap of Natsuo's friend, the one who suggested that Natsuo imagine his bride as a bear. He was thin and wiry, with eyes that reminded Midoriya of a hawk-it didn't exactly help that he looked like one too. There was a lecherous grin stretched across his face that exposed the whites of his teeth and made his beady eyes seem smaller upon his face. His long, shaggy fuschia colored hair curled down his back as he turned his head towards the woman.

"Why worry about your bride tonight, when there are other, far more beautiful exotic women for you to play with here?" As if to demonstrate his point, the man slipped his fingers into the gap between the woman's obi and her kimono and tugged on the fabric, slightly loosening the obi which caused the woman to yelp as she attempted to pull her obi away from his fingers. There was a tight smile on her face, "Sir, forgive me, but this isn't that type of establishment—" she attempted to playfully chide him.

That only caused him to cock his head, his bottom lip pushed outward in a feigned pout. "Oh come on, in Shuei isn't it a custom to treat a customer as if they're a god? My poor friend here is getting married, the least you can do is at least provide us with a bit of extra service. After all your country is known for being good at that sort of thing."

The corner of Midoriya's lip twitched as the grip on his hands tightened until his knuckles were white. Managing to twist herself out of the man's lap, the woman stood as she quickly readjusted her obi, bowed and excused herself to go get more refreshments for the guests, leaving behind the three other women who did their best to make their faces into unreadable masks as they set up instruments and began to play upon them.

Delighted to see more bottles of wine upon the table, Natsuo reached for one as he glumly called announced that they all might as well drink themselves blind if they were to be celebrating his wake.

Drinks were poured out as the evening seemed to stretch on. Yaoyorozu kept her cup in front of her, her hands clasped together as she refused to even drink a single drop of the wine. Though she did eye the crown prince restlessly as he gulped down cup after cup; the wine being poured immediately into the small porcelain container once it had been emptied.

Food was soon brought. Small little snacks that complimented the alcohol and soaked up some of the intoxication that had settled into everyone's veins, making them just slightly a little bit more lucid and aware of themselves. Enough that with a grin on his slightly reddened face, Natsuo called for the customary engagement gifts to be laid out before him.

In both Enten and Shuei's culture, when a couple was engaged gifts were given. The only difference being that in Shuei the gifts were exchanged when the two families who would be joining together met and gave gifts that were typically money, dried squid, a pair of fans and other things that represented a healthy and long marriage. But here, gifts that were given were far different.

All three of Natsuo's friends called for servants who came into the room carrying a bow made from the tooth of an Aiwem tiger. The bow gleamed as if it had been bathed in moonlight, gold vines snaked up the bow, giving it a regal appearance befit for the status of the prince who was receiving it. A quiver full of arrows that seemed to be made of the same tooth was presented alongside it as well. The teal haired man broke out into a grin as the gift was laid before Natsuo. "For you, my prince. A gift befitting your status and worthy of God himself. I hope you use this bow the next time you go and hunt, for with it any prey that stands within your path can be brought down."

Natsuo thanked him as the second gift was brought in—this time from the fuschia-haired man—who presented to him, a bracelet made out of the purest of golds and inlaid with the finest of pearls, rubies, and pink diamonds. Next, came an Ahlspiess, a spear that was more wood than metal. The handle was made from trees that inhabited the natural mountain border between Enten and Ingeniumu. Nearly bone white, the wood gleamed underneath the glow of the lanterns that hung from the walls, the head of the spike sat upon a circular cross-section only to taper out at the end. The next gift was from Fuyumi; she presented to her brother, a fine silk vest made from Shueian silk, gold leaf had been pressed into embroidered patterns onto the vest. The vest was a work of art in its own way, meant to make others envious of whoever was wearing it and considering the jealous gazes that Natsuo was being given from his friends, it seemed to be giving off the desired effect. Next came Yaoyorozu—whom Midoriya was surprised to learn via the quick self-introduction that she gave, was a daughter of a noble house. Something that had Midoriya more confused than before—she presented to Natsuo, a splendid sword, handcrafted by the best guild of blacksmiths that existed within the kingdom. The sword's hilt was a roaring tigers head made from gold, the blade gleamed underneath the light and from Yaoyorozu's own words, was made from the hardest metal the blacksmiths could find.

Natsuo thanked Yaoyorozu greatly as he took the blade in his hand to test the balance of the weight, before handing the sword back to a servant's outstretched hands where he placed the sword back onto the red cloth that covered them.

Finally, the last gift that was to be presented fell upon Todoroki, but when they all settled their gaze upon him he made no effort nor announcement of a single gift that he had brought for today's occasion.

"Brother, where's your gift?" Natsuo sniffed as his lips twisted in scorn.

Todoroki remained silent for quite some time, seemingly choosing his words carefully before replying. "There's no gift in this world, that I thought of, that I felt I could give to you. Instead, if you have a gift in mind, no matter the price or how rare it is, I will give that to you instead."

Natsuo hummed as he tapped a single finger against his bottom lip, his brows wrinkled together as he pondered Todoroki's words. It was a moment later that the taut skin around his brows relaxed and he pointed an index finger at Todoroki's chest. "I've decided what I want as a gift—for you to take off your mask and show us what's underneath it."

Fuyumi hissed at the intake of a breath as Yaoyorozu's face went pale and smooth, her eyes widening in shock as silence settled in the room—the women who had been playing upon their instruments seemed to have stopped in that very moment—and the three men Natsuo had brought with him had a collective mixture of absolute sadistic delight painted onto their features. Yaoyorozu's lips parted as she twisted her head to address the prince, but a simple shake of Todoroki's head and a soft, no, had her pressing her lips together even though it seemed to pain her to do so.

That didn't seem to stop Fuyumi however who had pushed back her chair, risen to her feet and balled her hands into fists as she glared down at her brother. "Don't make him do this," she hissed out as Natsuo frowned at her.

He slammed down the cup he was holding, the alcohol sloshing over his fingers. "Why not?!" He roared. "Have you forgotten, that he's the reason our mother isn't here? After all, isn't it fair that the younger brother listens to his older one?"

Rage colored Fuyumi's skin as she opened her mouth with seemingly more to say, but there was a sardonic smile that stretched across Todoroki's lips as he reached up with his fingers to untie the knot that fastened the mask he wore to his face. "If that's what you wish brother."

From where Midoriya stood, he could see the trembling in Todoroki's fingers and hear the consternation that rumbled from his throat.

Midoriya didn't quite get the mixture of his own feelings that was rising in his chest as he slowly watched the white and gold mask slip from Todoroki's face, but as the prince lifted his head to expose the secret he'd been keeping from his brother and sister, his only desire was to never see someone—especially the crown prince—suffer the way he seemed to be suffering now.

Todoroki kept his eyes downcast to the table, even as his sister gasped in horror as she quickly raised her hands to her mouth in a mixture of shock and horror. Everyone else at the table, including the servants and the staff who could see his face looked petrified. A few of the women shouted words in Midoriya's native tongue that had him wincing as they stood up and fled the room.

Todoroki's fingers were trembling and his grip on his mask tightened as they all stared at the twisted and burnt scar of flesh that covered the left side of his face, seemingly stretching up from the edges of his hairline to just a little bit below his left eye. There was a redness to it, as if the flesh, despite being healed was still...wrong somehow.

"You're a monster," Natsuo seemed to breathe out, his words coming off as no more than a mere whisper despite the thick, cloying tension that filled the room, "no wonder dad made you the crown prince after all."

With trembling fingers, Todoroki bowed his head as he quickly tied his mask back onto his face, pushing his chair back as he did so, rising to his feet, turning and storming out of the room like a burgeoning storm. Without thinking, Midoriya's feet were chasing after him as he ran out into the hall. It didn't take long, as he found himself rounding corners, walking down flights of stairs, and traversing through the halls before he spotted the prince whose back was pressed to a wall and was doubled in on himself.

There was a hand pressed against his mouth as his shoulders shook, his eyes tightly pressed shut as his body seemed to shudder with some great emotional pain that Midoriya felt had slowly been peeled back for him to see tonight, but was partly brought on by the scorn and animosity that was twisted together with the brotherly love that Todoroki's brother felt for him.

He didn't know what to do or say, but lifted his right hand with some trepidation, paused and let his fingers curl inward to his palm even as he hesitantly reached out to softly touch Todoroki's shoulder.

That seemed to set him off as the prince whirled around to face Midoriya. His eyes bloodshot from the tears that streaked down his face, the whites of his teeth exposed mid-snarl. "What?! Have you come to take even more pleasure in knowing that this nation's heir is a disfigured monster?!"

Eyes widening at the self-flagellating words coming from Todoroki's mouth, Midoriya felt his stomach twist for seeing the prince in such a pitiful state. For the first time, Midoriya truly stared at him; stared at him in a way no servant had ever since the prince before. Too busy being blocked by the impenetrable wall of solid ice that separated everyone from Todoroki, he had been slowly observing the chips and cracks that had long existed in the wall before he had arrived—they were just too small that no one would have ever noticed them—that exposed the most vulnerable parts that the prince wanted no one to possess knowledge of. Knowledge that despite their close relationship, Midoriya expected that Yaoyorozu also wasn't privy to, despite her being the one who seemed to know the prince the most.

He saw Todoroki as a scared, fragile child, hurt by the world around him and those closest to him that he had once trusted with secrets that he was excited to freely share. He saw a child who spent years locking himself away, years beating himself up until there was nothing left inside of him except a hollow shell. He saw fear as a permanent fixture in a child's eyes, fear that no child should know, but for Todoroki it came with a sense of familiarity like a second skin.

Understanding burned in Midoriya's eyes, a sensation that wriggled in the back of his mind, giving him some clarity but far more questions behind Todroki's past and the anguished air that clung to any mentions of his mother. The shift in Midoriya's eyes seemed to set Todoroki off even more.

"Don't." The single word came out as a threatening growl as Todoroki thrust his face into Midoriya's personal space. Their noses were mere inches apart from one another; he could see the unshed tears burning in Todoroki's eyes.

"You're not a monster," he kept his eyes trained on Todoroki's bloodshot own, "I don't know what happened to you, but—"

"Shut up!" Midoriya winced as Todoroki's fingers dug into the soft flesh of his wrist, he could feel blood bubbling to the surface of his skin from the crescent-shaped welts that were burgeoning on his flesh.

"Your highness—" Eyes widening, Midoriya let out a shout as he wrenched his hand away from the prince's grasp. The odor of burnt flesh tickled his nose as he shakily stared at his wrist where Todoroki had grasped it. The flesh was a bright shade of pink overlaced with the crescent-shaped welts on the skin that wept thin lines of blood. Fixing his gaze on Todoroki, he was hardly surprised to see the complete look of utter shock that painted the prince's face mixed with a lethargy that belonged more to a battle-worn man than a prince who had just come of age.

"Now, do you see how much of a monster I truly am?"

Tearing his eyes away from the prince, Midoriya turned as he continued to clutch his injured arm. He took a step back and then another until he swiveled on his feet and was walking away from the prince, away from the broken sobs that reached his ears a second later. Away from the sound of the prince's soft wails as he cried out to his mother. Snatches of his apology to her resonating deep within Midoriya like the shallow bowls the priests would use during prayer ceremonies.

 _I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Mother, I'm so sorry._

Even as he squeezed his eyes shut to block out the words, he could still hear them. He could still hear them even as the distance between himself and Todoroki grew further apart.

* * *

 **A/N: All Hail the Glow Cloud, for horizontal lines are back! Also I'm back with a new chapter that's pretty dang long and should tide everyone over until the next chapter comes around. I'm sorry this one is full of angst and all I can say is things...aren't going to get better for awhile. In fact that just get way more painful.**


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